Jack Catterall and Arnold Barboza have been granted an extension to reach terms for their ordered title eliminator.
The good news is that the date, location and weight are already locked in for the attractive matchup. As previously reported by The Ring, Catterall-Barboza is targeted to headline a Feb. 15 DAZN show from Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
The two sides are far enough along to where the WBO—who ordered the fight in November—was fine to move the deadline.
"Re: Barboza/Catterall—Golden Boy and Matchroom Boxing jointly requested (an) extension for negotiations," newly elected WBO president Gustavo Oliveiri confirmed on Wednesday. "The teams have until December 27 at 4pm AST to reach a deal or purse bids will be ordered."
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.
Englands's Catterall (30-1, 13 knockouts) is The Ring’s No. 2 junior welterweight contender and promoted by Matchroom. Los Angeles' Barboza (31-0, 11 KOs) recently re-entered at No. 9 after his second win of the year since he signed with Golden Boy.
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 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.
The winner will become the mandatory contender to the WBO 140-pound title. That belt is currently in the possession of The Ring junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs).
Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.