Alejandro Santiago Barrios of Mexico is being eyed to challenge International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight king Jerwin Ancajas on Sept. 29 in Temecula, California.
Barrios, who hails from the border town of Tijuana, has a 16-2-4 win-loss-draw record with seven KOs.
To be promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc., the Ancajas headliner will mark the sixth time that the IBF 115-lb champion will defend the crown he had won in Sept. 2016.
In his last outing in late-April, Ancajas repulsed mandatory challenger Jonas Sultan in Fresno, California.
Ancajas, 26, is already neck-deep in training in Magallanes, Cavite, under long-time cornerman Joven Jimenez, who has vowed to whip his fighter into fiery form.
Barrios, 22, had fought exclusively in Mexico.
The southpaw Ancajas, who totes a 30-1-1 slate with 20 KOs, has kept the title by beating Jose Alfredo Rodriguez of Mexico, Teiru Kinoshita of Japan, Jamie Conlan of Northern Ireland, Israel Gonzalez of Mexico and Sultan.
A formal announcement of Ancajas’ much-awaited ring return should be done any day with the arrival of ace Las Vegas-based matchmaker Sean Gibbons.
