Omar Figueroa will take on Japan’s Nihito Arakawa for the vacant WBC Interim Lightweight championship on July 27th in San Antonio on Showtime according to Dan Rafael of espn.com
“We got everything confirmed,” said Golden Boy Promotions Schaefer said. “Mr. (Akahiro) Honda is an honorable guy and we have a deal. I talked to [Showtime Sports boss] Stephen [Espinoza] to see if the fight would be OK with him for that card. He likes Figueroa very much and he liked it a lot. He saw what a big hit Omar was on the Canelo-Trout undercard.”
“I think the likelihood of Broner going back to 135 pounds after the fight with Paulie is remote, which means he would vacate the title and the (Figueroa-Arakawa) winner would have the title,” Schaefer said. “Broner probably would stay at welterweight or go down to junior welterweight, but I don’t think he will go back to lightweight.
“I’m excited for Omar. He obviously has been coming along very nicely. He’s a very exciting fighter. Now, to be able to bring him back to San Antonio, where he obviously has a fan base and had almost 40,000 people cheering for him last month, is amazing. I’m happy for the young man to get an opportunity to fight for a world title. Omar takes risks when he fights and, as his promoter, I’m on the edge of my seat watching him. He goes for it and that’s what people want to see. So I’m happy for him to get this chance.”
