By Jake Donovan

It hadn't even reached noontime in the states, yet it's already been a big day for undefeated junior lightweight Joan Guzman.

Moments after it was announced that Guzman's next defense of his WBO junior lightweight strap was UK-bound, BoxingScene.com learned that the undefeated Dominican heads into the fight with Alex Arthur as a free agent.

That no promoter will be able to claim paper on Guzman is quite a statement considering the number of hands that have been in his pockets over the years. Golden Boy Promotions and Sycuan Ringside Promotions both claim current representation, with Zanfer Promotions, Goossen-Tutor Promotions and Frank Warren's Sports Network all having options on Guzman on separate occasions during his career.

For the moment, Guzman is reunited with Warren, if only for a fight. The UK-based promoter, who handles Arthur, was the winner of a purse bid held Thursday morning in Puerto Rico. His bid of $280,000 was enough to beat out Sycuan Ringside's offer of $252,000, both amounts obviously exceeding the WBO's minimum acceptable bid of $150,000.

No purse offer was made by Golden Boy Promotions, nor were they present at the purse bid. Golden Boy and Frank Warren attempted to work out a deal earlier in the year, but the two sides were too far apart on money, leading to the ordered fight going the purse bid route.

Nunez declined comment on Guzman's pending free-agent status, but was elated at the news of the fight with Arthur finally finding a buyer.

"This is a fight we've wanted to get out of the way the moment they told us he was next in line. A lot of rumors were flying around about what Guzman would do next, if he would move up, if he would give up the title to pursue a fight with the winner of the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez rematch… a lot of rumors, but nobody seeking the truth. We wanted to take care of business with Arthur first before thinking about the rest of the stuff.

"We're thrilled that the fight can be made official, now that Frank Warren has won the purse bid. We didn't care about fighting Arthur next or where we'd fight him, just that the fight would get made and that we wouldn't have to wait too long."

The fight is tentatively scheduled for April 26, with the rumored locations to be either in Arthur's homeland of Scotland (either in Glasgow, or Arthur's hometown of Edinburg) or London, England. According to the terms of the purse split, Guzman will earn $168,000 while Arthur makes $112,000. Guzman is entitled to a greater share due to the fight landing in the UK rather than a neutral location.

Arthur (26-1, 19KO) claimed interim status to the WBO 130 lb. title after scoring a 10th round TKO over Koba Gogoladze last July in Cardiff, Wales, before taking an interim fight with Stephen Foster as means to stay busy while awaiting their title shot. They nearly lost their place in line, with Arthur forced to climb off of the canvas to score a knockdown of his own en route to a close unanimous decision victory.

It wasn't the first time Arthur had been down, as his lone loss came in 2003 when hard-hitting Michael Gomez sent him to the deck three times before forcing a 5th round stoppage in a minor upset. Arthur's career has otherwise been steady - and exclusively based out of the UK.

Such stability would be the exact opposite of what the well-traveled Guzman (28-0, 17KO) has endured in his career. The Arthur fight will be the Dominican's second in the UK, having won the WBO 122 lb. title in Cardiff, Wales, when he knocked out Fabio Oliva in August 2002.

Guzman was planning for a European vacation in 2006, when he was mandatory challenger to then-WBO featherweight titlist Scott Harrison. Their bout was postponed multiple times, before being scrapped altogether when Team Guzman grew tired of waiting for a bout they believed would never materialize.

The Dominican instead set his sights on the junior lightweight division – his third weight class in just 16 months, though appearing to have finally found a home. Guzman won the WBO 130 lb. title in September 2006 with a decision win over Jorge Barrios, but has only fought once since then – a 12-round nod over Humberto Soto last November on HBO.

The purse bid ends month-long speculation of whether or not the fight would ever materialize. Team Arthur alleged to local newspapers that Guzman was avoiding him and had instead set his sights on 135. Team Guzman cleared the air and offering water-cooler whispers of their own, such as Arthur possibly eyeing a fight with Amir Khan or countryman Scott Harrison, who is presently seeking a boxing license renewal from the British Board of Boxing.

All that's being sought, as far as this fight is concerned, are signatures, as the two sides now have ten days to sign contracts and file with the WBO to finalize the terms of the purse bid.

Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His feature column runs every Tuesday, and his Prospect of the Week series runs every Thursday. Jake is also BoxingScene's official Telefutura correspondent.

Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .