Arnold Barboza Jnr has been keeping busy in the gym since the first defeat of his career and is hunting down another title shot.
Barboza Jnr was outpointed by WBO junior lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez back in May after waiting what seemed a lifetime for his shot at the WBO belt. He finally got his opportunity by defeating Jack Catterall in a razor close contest back in November 2024 in Catterall’s home city of Manchester.
Barboza, like Catterall, has struggled to land big name opposition for the much of his career. The pair both box at the highest level but are fighters only really appreciated by the purist of boxing fans. Their contests have come under criticism for being dull and many high profile fighters have used that as an excuse not to face them.
Catterall has boxed once since his defeat to Barboza, a technical decision win over Harlem Eubank that failed to live up to the pre-fight hype. Both Barboza and Catterall find themselves in a very similar position, both having announced a move up to welterweight in search of a title shot, but both are struggling to find a champion willing to give them one.
“I messaged Catterall and I messaged his team, his manager [Sam Jones],” Barboza Jnr told BoxingScene. “I was like, ‘Hey, let's do a rematch for November.’ They just didn't want to. His manager's like, ‘Oh, well, your styles don't gel.’ And I said, ‘Bro, I’ll stay in the middle of the ring if Catterall stays in the middle of the ring.’ The problem is he's got to talk to Catterall, but he's always on his back foot. So if he's willing to do it, bro, I'll stay right in the middle of the ring, I've done it before. They just didn't want to fight, bro. So that's all right. We'll wait, we'll move on and go to January.”
It looks as though Barboza Jnr will have to wait until next year for a return to the ring, but he insists he is keeping ready, just in case a last minute opportunity presents itself.
“I was hoping to return in October,” Barboza Jnr said. “Then the fight got pushed to November and then they for some reason asked me if I wanted to wait till January to do something bigger. I said I'll wait till January. I'm constantly in the gym, you'll never catch me out of shape.
“I'm always in the gym. I know it gets a little frustrating, because I'm so active, but everything happens for a reason. I don't think the rest will do me any harm, I think this time off is gonna benefit me a lot. So I'm hoping for the beginning of the year, you know, late January, maybe early February, the latest. Take the year off, enjoy. I'm still gonna be ready in case one of these fights fall off or whatever, then I'll be ready to go.”
