By Elisinio Castillo
Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera signed a promotional agreement with Top Rank and his upcoming fights will be carried on ESPN and the ESPN + app.
Sources from the Cuban team have confirmed the information to George Ebro and states that his next fight will be on June 8 in Reno, Nevada, as part of a card starring featherweight champion Oscar Valdez.
"Sullivan is training very hard and his head is focused on the job," said Derik Santos Rosario, the coach of Barrera, to Ebro. "Sullivan is still an elite boxer in his division."
With this union with Top Rank, Barrera puts an end to the days of being free agent and will begin what may be the final road towards the conquest of a world title at 175 pounds.
Just as Premier Boxing Champions has a strong welterweight division and DAZN has most of the middleweights, Top Rank has the majority of the light heavyweights - including three world champions in Sergey Kovalev, Artur Beteriev and Oleksandr Gvozdyk. And they also have Eleider Alvarez, Jesse Hart and Gilberto Ramirez.
The opponent for Barrera (22-2, 14 KO) appears to be Michael Seals (22-2, 16 KO).
"Sullivan may once again have a chance to fight for a world title," Santos added. "If you take away the champions, there are not five more of his quality."
Barrera, one of the Cuban warriors who is happy to showcase an aggressive style, is currently ranked number 2 by the WBA, 6 by the WBC, 6 by the WBO and 11 in the IBF.
His only two defeats were against Andre Ward and the current World Boxing Association champion Dmitry Bivol. He has not fought since last November, when he defeated Sean Monaghan in New York.
