For as long as he waited to return to the title stage, there was never going to be any looking back for Brian Castano.

Things are finally falling in place for the unbeaten Argentine, who had only fought seven times in five years prior to 2021. The pandemic played a part in his inactivity, including a year-long delay to his WBO junior middleweight title fight versus Patrick Teixeira. The fight finally came about February 13, with Castano claiming a one-sided unanimous decision to win the belt and immediately proceeding with talks for an undisputed championship showdown with lineal/WBC/WBA/IBF champ Jermell Charlo (34-1, 18KOs).

“My main goals for 2021 were to get Teixeira out of the way and to get to Jermell Charlo,” Castano told BoxingScene.com. “Other names came up, before and after (the fight with Teixeira)—but really, Jermell Charlo was the only fight I wanted once I won the WBO title. That wasn’t my dream, it’s the goal—to win all four titles this year.”

Castano (17-0-1, 12KOs) was granted his wish, as their July 17 fight—which will take place at AT&T Center in San Antonio—was announced earlier this year as part of Showtime’s loaded spring and summer schedule. It was a frustrating road for the 31-year-old from Buenos Aires, who has fought just once each in 2016, 2017 and 2018, twice in 2019 and then not at all in 2020.

Oddly, the road to a brighter future came about after winning the title on another promoter’s show. Castano—who fights under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner and has been represented by TGB Promotions—claimed a lopsided decision over Brazil’s Teixeira on a DAZN telecast presented by Golden Boy Promotions.

The next move requires Castano to head to Charlo’s home state of Texas, though continuing to fight on the road is of little concern given his current career direction.

“Once I got to Teixeira, I knew that would set up a really big year for me,” notes Castano. “Getting that belt was key, winning the title and (landing) a fight with Charlo to become the undisputed champion. Other names were being thrown around even before I fought Teixeira. My team did a great job of establishing our goals and making sure they remained the priority.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox