Mykal Fox is set to return to the ring more than a year after launching a movement.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that Fox will next face former title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas on October 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The bout will likely air on a preliminary undercard stream preceding the already announced Showtime tripleheader headlined by unbeaten interim WBC junior middleweight titlist Sebastian Fundora in a scheduled twelve-round bout with Carlos Ocampo.

Fox and Kavaliauskas are both coming off losses and nearly identical lengthy layoffs, having fought one week apart last August. Their defeats came under drastically different circumstances.

Kavailauskas (22-2-1, 18KOs) had Vergil Ortiz Jr. briefly stunned early in their DAZN-aired main event before suffering five knockdowns en route to an eighth-round knockout loss last August 14 in Frisco, Texas. The bout came nearly two years after the welterweight contender—who represented Lithuania in the 2012 London Olympics—suffered a ninth-round knockout loss to WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford.

The loss to Ortiz came one week after Fox became the face of boxing reform after being cheated in every way imaginable in a highly questionable twelve-round points loss to Venezuela’s Gabriel Maestre.

The fight began with Maestre’s corner forced to adjust the taping over his gloves, which referee Mark Nelson made a point to specify was not done to “skin” but rather not meeting fight standards. Fox jumped out to an early lead thanks to a surprise knockdown in the second round. The judges were clearly not impressed with the Upper Marlboro, Maryland product over the balance of the fight, somehow scoring unanimously in favor of Maestre (4-0-1, 3KOs) who became the last fighter in the sport to claim an interim WBA title.

The outcome of the fight—which was part of a Fox-televised tripleheader from The Armory in Minneapolis—produced a number of investigations and actions.

Included among the lot was the suspension of judge Gloria Martinez-Rizzo, who absurdly scored the bout 117-110 in favor of Maestre and whose sordid history and conflict of interest came into play. A history of documented racism was discovered, along with Martinez-Rizzo being married to Ricardo Rizzo, a promoter and manager who has often acted as a WBA liaison.

The Association of Boxing Commissions got involved, calling for the WBA to clean up its act. The WBA responded in kind, removing all interim titles—which, ironically, prompted Fox’s team to bow out of an ordered rematch with Maestre given the lessened stakes—and making good on a years-long promise to end the practice of recognizing multiple WBA titlists within each weight division.

Several title reduction bouts have since taken place, though oddly with Fox unable to make his way back into the ring during that time. Fittingly, welterweight remains one of seven divisions that still carry two WBA titleholders. Errol Spence (28-0, 22KOs) is the WBA “Super” champ (along with the WBC/IBF titleholder), while Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 9KOs; 1ND) is the WBA ‘World’ titlist.  

The Fox-Kavaliauskas winner won’t necessarily enter the title mix, though their willingness to face one another at least allows both to finally re-enter the ring.

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