Josh Warrington is set for the first defense of his second title reign.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that Leeds’ Warrington and Mexico’s Luis Alberto Lopez have agreed to terms for their mandatory IBF featherweight title, which will take place on December 10 in Leeds. The bout—which will headline a DAZN telecast—has been speculated for weeks, more so after Lopez won his most recent fight earlier this summer and when it became clear that there was not a path to a more coveted unification bout.

ESPN Deportes’ Salvador ‘Chava’ Rodriguez was the first to report that a deal was reached.

The 31-year-old Warrington (31-1-1, 8KOs) regained his IBF title following a seventh-round stoppage of Kiko Martinez in his most recent outing on March 26 at First Direct Arena in Leeds.

The feat saw Warrington become a two-time IBF featherweight titlist, having previously held the belt from May 2018 through last January 21 when he opted to vacate the belt in lieu of an undesirable rematch with mandatory challenger Kid Galahad. The move came with its share of setbacks, as Warrington suffered a stunning ninth-round stoppage loss to Mauricio ‘Bronco’ Lara last February 13 at Wembley Arena (now OVO Arena Wembley), with the two fighting to a two-round, technical draw in their rematch last September 4 at Headingley Rugby League Stadium in Leeds.

Lopez (26-2, 15KOs) became the mandatory challenger following a seventh-round knockout of unbeaten Isaac Lowe—a stablemate of lineal/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury—in their IBF featherweight title eliminator last December at York Hall in Bethnal Green, England. The feat followed an equally impressive ten-round shutout of then-undefeated Gabriel Flores Jr. last September in Tucson, Arizona.

Both wins are part of a nine-fight win streak for the 29-year-old Mexicali native, who has won his last three inside the distance. In his most recent start, Lopez scored a second-round knockout of Yeison Vargas in an intended stay busy fight on August 20 in San Diego. The quick hit allowed for Lopez—who is promoted by Top Rank—to enjoy a quick turnaround without having to wait until 2023 for his first career title fight.

Warrington lodged three successful title defenses during his first reign. The most notable was a December 2018 twelve-round, unanimous decision win over former two-division champ Carl Frampton in Manchester, England.

Previous efforts were made following Warrington’s win over Martinez to land a fight with secondary WBA titlist Leigh Wood in what would have been a massive domestic fight. However, such a fight would have required Wood to either receive an upgrade to full titlist or vacate his belt.

Wood was since instructed to face WBA ‘Super’ featherweight titlist Leo Santa Cruz, though the two managed to convince the sanctioning body to allow separate bouts before entering the title consolidation clash. Nottingham’s Wood was due to face Lara this weekend in his hometown, only for a biceps injury to force him off the show.

Regardless, Warrington was always prepared to move on to his mandatory title defense once it became clear that a bigger fight wouldn’t immediately surface.

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