Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela is set for his maiden title defense.

The Ring’s No. 10 junior welterweight will risk his WBA belt against former title challenger Gary Antuanne Russell. The scheduled twelve-round bout is now confirmed to serve on the Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach Jr. March 1 PBC on Prime Pay-Per-View event from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

“All roads led to this moment,” Valenzuela posted on his verified social media channels. “On March 1st I will be defending [what’s] mine in New York City. Lighting strikes Barclays.”

The development put an end to previous rumors on plans for PBC to host the fight on a standalone show.

Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs) won the WBA 140-pound title in a twelve-round, split decision over Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KOs) last Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The bout served as part of the Riyadh Season launch in the U.S. market headlined by Terence Crawford’s WBA 154-pound title win over Israil Madrimov.

Interestingly, Valenzuela’s name came up as a targeted opponent for Baltimore’s Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1 lightweight. The first round of casual discussion surrounded a targeted Nov. 2 date at lightweight, which Robert Garcia, Valenzuela’s trainer, immediately nixed. The conversation once again came up for a targeted Dec. 14 date at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Davis eventually went with Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs), The Ring’s No. 4 junior lightweight who will move up to 135 for this fight. The date and venue changed, which provided enough time for Valenzuela to put in a full camp for a separate title defense.

The win over Cruz was Valenzuela’s second straight. He moved up in weight eight months after a Dec. 2023 revenge-fueled, sixth-round knockout of Chris Colbert (17-1 at the time) to avenge a controversial points loss earlier that March.

Russell (17-1, 17 KOs) has not fought since a twelve-round, split decision defeat to Albert Puello (23-0, 10 KOs), The Ring’s No. 3 junior welterweight contender last June 15 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Puello claimed the vacant WBC 140-pound title with the victory, which had no business being split on the cards.

The setback was part of a series of firsts for Russell, who’d also never previously gone to the scorecards as a pro or past the tenth round. The Capitol Heights, Maryland native stopped his prior 17 opponents, all in ten rounds or less.

The rest of the undercard was not yet revealed. However, The Ring has learned that at least one more title fight could land on the show. Plans are in place for Puello to defend his belt against Spain’s Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), the WBC mandatory challenger.