On a night that saw Vasiliy Lomachenko and Gilberto Ramirez perform well in their respective fights, Arnold Barboza Jr. may have been the one whose stock rose up the most with his win in Los Angeles.
Closing the ESPN+ undercard of Lomachenko's unified WBA and WBO lightweight defense against Anthony Crolla on April 12, Barboza knocked out Mike Alvarado in the third round. It was arguably the biggest win of Barboza's career up to that point as it was his first win against a fighter who has held a world title in the past.
Now Barboza has world title aspirations of his own and he took the time to call out junior welterweight champions Jose Ramirez and Maurice Hooker to a fight in a post-fight interview.
?That was a good fight, and now I want Jose Ramirez. I want Maurice Hooker," Barboza said. "That?s what I want in my future. Alvarado is a tough guy, and I stopped him in three rounds. Hopefully, this performance will catapult me to a world title opportunity. To perform like I did in front of my hometown fans, it doesn?t get better than that.?
The win over Alvarado could catapult Barboza into the WBC rankings when it updates next in early May, but he already had a solid standing in the WBO rankings. Barboza came in to the fight ranked No. 4 by the WBO, whose champion is Hooker. But Ramirez, the WBC champion, is the titleholder who fights for Top Rank just like Barboza and with Ramirez not having any fights lined up for him at this moment, a fight between the two boxers could potentially happen down the road if Barboza keeps his winning ways.