Former featherweight world champion Lee Selby is moving up a couple of weight classes to try and become a two-division world champion.
Selby announced on Twitter that he will face Omar Douglas in a lightweight bout on February 23 at the O2 Arena in London. Selby's fight will be on the undercard of James DeGale vs. Chris Eubank Jr. and is the first undercard bout announced.
The mission to become a two weight World Champion begins on Feb 23rd at @TheO2 as I return at Lightweight against American Omar Douglas live on @ITVBoxing #TeamSelby ---- pic.twitter.com/w1tkgUmXgB
— lee selby (@leeselby126) January 14, 2019
The 31-year-old Selby has spent the majority of his career fighting at featherweight, but the last time Selby fought anywhere near lightweight was back in 2009 when he weighed in at 135.5 pounds, according to Boxrec. Selby would go on to win the IBF featherweight title in May 2015 when he defeated Evgeny Gradovich. Since that win, Selby made five successful title defenses before losing his title to Josh Warrington. Warrington defeated Selby by split decision this past May in Leeds, England.
Douglas, a native of Wilmington, Delaware, is taking a step up in competition from his three previous opponents. Douglas sports a 19-2 record and previously held the NABA-USA super featherweight title. Having won two of his last four fights, Douglas also faced former world champion Javier Fortuna in that span, losing a close unanimous decision.
Selby's lightweight debut will be shown on ITV Box Office in the United Kingdom as the event is the first PBC card taking place in the U.K. since ITV and PBC signed an exclusive broadcast deal.
