Jack Catterall hopes to kill two birds with one stone.

A fight date is in store for the former title challenger regardless of opponent. The Ring has learned that Catterall is budgeted to return on February 15, likely in Manchester, minutes from his hometown of Chorley, England. The targeted opponent is Arnold Barboza, though there remains work to be done to push the fight over the line.

Catterall (30-1, 13 knockouts) is The Ring’s No. 2 junior welterweight contender. Barboza (31-0, 11 KOs) recently re-entered at No. 9.

The WBO ordered a title eliminator between the two in November. The negotiation period is ongoing, with a deadline of December 16 for their respective teams to reach a deal and avoid a purse bid hearing.

Catterall is coming off the best year of his 12-year career.

He began with a unanimous decision victory over Scotland’s Josh Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs; No.6 at 140 by The Ring) on May 25 in Leeds to avenge his lone career defeat. Catterall suffered a highly questionable split decision defeat to Taylor, who was the undefeated Ring/undisputed champion during their Feb. 2022 clash in Glasgow, Scotland.

Plans for a rematch resulted in four postponements and one outright cancellation spread out over two years. Catterall was out of the ring for 13 months at one point before he registered back-to-back wins over Darragh Foley (22-6-1, 11 KOs) and former three-division titlist Jorge Linares (47-9. 29 KOs) in 2023.

That was followed by his victory over Taylor and then a dominant showing in an Oct. 26 unanimous decision over former two-time titlist Regis Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs). The win came atop the first-ever boxing show at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester.

Barboza (31-0, 11 KOs) has enjoyed his busiest campaign since 2019.

The 33-year-old from Los Angeles signed with Golden Boy prior to the start of the year after having fought under the Top Rank banner since 2017. Three wins have followed, none bigger than his most recent performance. Barboza outpointed former 140-pound titlist Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) on Nov. 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A contingency plan is in place for Catterall should the Barboza fight not materialize. However, the aim is for a win to lead to a major title fight by his next ring appearance.