It was recently announced that unbeaten super light contender Arnold Barboza Jr. (26-0) will return to the ring on July 15th against fellow unbeaten prospect Danielito “El Zorro” Zorilla (16-0) on July 15th in Temecula, California. 

The fight will end an 11 month layoff for Barboza. His last fight took place in August when he easily outpointed Antonio Moran in Oklahoma. 

According to Barboza, his ring inactivity is due to his team looking for bigger fights. Barboza has made no secret of his desire to face former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez Jr. 

Lopez recently took to social media, claiming that none of the top names in the super lightweight division are willing to fight him. 

BoxingScene.com’s Jake Donovan had previously reported that Lopez will return to the ring on August 13th with Pedro Campa being the front runner to be his opponent. 

The news infuriated Barboza who has been chasing the fight for over a year. Barboza is ranked in the top 15 by the WBC and WBO.  

“Maybe he wants to see how he comes back from his last fight. I think it was a smart decision by his team in not picking us. But he shouldn’t be f*cking lying on the internet saying he wants the top guys and saying we are avoiding him because everyone knows that’s a lie,” Barboza told BoxingScene.com. 

Barboza, who is guided by top manager Rick Mirigian, was referring to Lopez’s last fight when he lost his titles to George Kambosos in a major upset this past November. 

While he still wants to fight Lopez he said that he will no longer wait around for him. 

“There’s no more waiting around. I got a tough fighter I have to face first. I’m going to win this fight then try again for big fights,” said Barboza. 

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