By Steve Kim

Ray Beltran has had problems securing a lightweight title shot, so for the time being he'll do what he can to put himself in position for one. On May 20th from the Madison Square Garden in New York, he'll face Jonathan Maicelo as the co-feature before Terence Crawford takes on Felix Diaz on HBO.

"This is a very crucial fight for us," said Steve Feder, who manages Beltran (32-7-1, 20 KO's).

"We're trying to secure the WBA International belt, also for this fight we're also working on this being an IBF eliminator. So we'll defend our NABF/NABO titles, as well. So basically four key sanctioning bodies will take this opportunity to push our rankings up in the top two or three in all of the sanctioning bodies that will position Ray to a mandatory position.

Feder continued - "That's the key goal here because we're thoroughly convinced now that none of the champions will fight us.(Jorge) Linares wont fight Ray. (Terry) Flanagan turned us down. We're in a position where Ray Beltran clearly doesn't make sense to fight, he'd be a spoiler for any champion. So Top Rank has gone out of their way, Carl Moretti (V.P. of Boxing Operations for Top Rank) has worked really hard to position Ray where at some point they'll have no choice but to fight us. We've also worked closely with (Top Rank matchmakers) Brad Goodman and Bruce Trampler to secure this opponent which is perfect for Ray."

Back on December 10th at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska, Beltran stopped Mason Menard in seven rounds on HBO. Maicelo (25-2, 12 KO's) is coming off a victory over Jose Felix Jr. where he floored the Mexican five times back on February 17th.

"We're really excited about going to MSG. So we're grateful for that move. Once again, it's another fight where Ray has to continue to prove himself. It's clear now it's not going to be easy. But we'll get a shot at the world title at some point this year," stated Feder.

"But we're going to have to do the work. It's heavy lifting by Top Rank and heavy lifting by Ray. That's just the politics of boxing so we have to do our job on our end and let our promoters do their jobs on the other."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com