Golden Boy Promotions announced the signing of the undefeated 140-pound contender Arnold Barboza Jr. (28-0, 10 KOs) on Tuesday. Barboza Jr., The Ring’s No. 7-rated junior welterweight, has been added to the DAZN broadcast of the December 2 Ryan Garcia-Oscar Duarte card at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

“I’m ready for the big fights,” Barboza stated in a Golden Boy press release. “I’m ready for the big events, I’m ready to fight in L.A. where I was born and raised. I feel that Golden Boy and Oscar will deliver this for me, and they stepped up and gave me what I asked for.”

Said Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya:

“The mold of a Golden Boy fighter is talent and hunger to become a world champion, which are all the qualities that Arnold Barboza Jr. possesses. We will position him to fight for a world title belt in the very near future. We’re the best in the business at building the next generation of stars and Arnold Barboza Jr. will put the 140-pound division on notice.”

Photo by German Villasenor

Added Rick Mirigian, Manager to Barboza:

“Value is not determined by those who set the price, value is determined by those who choose to pay it. Golden Boy has placed a high value on Barboza and wasted no time to show it.”

A Los Angeles native, 31-year-old Arnold Barboza Jr. made his professional debut as a welterweight on June 14, 2013, scoring a six-round unanimous decision victory against Gustavo Lopez. Since then, he has quickly dispatched a number of tough rivals and has climbed the ladder to become ranked No. 1 by the WBO and No. 4 by the WBC. In his decade-long career, Barboza held various regional titles including the WBO International Super Lightweight Title (2020-2021) and the NABF Super Lightweight Title (2018-2019). His most notable wins include unanimous decision victories against two-division titleholder Jose Pedraza, Danielito Zorrilla, Alex Saucedo, and Antonio Moran.