Arnold Barboza Jr. big win this past weekend signals he is ready to take on the top competitors in the 140-pound division.
Barboza (29-0, 11KOs), who was born in Long Beach, California, defeated Xolisani Ndongeni (31-4) of South Africa this past weekend to add another victory to his impressive record. Now Barboza, 32, wants to find a name opponent fast.
Barboza Jr. outmatched Ndogeni, and the fighter’s corner men requested referee Raul Caiz Jr. to stop the fight when the eighth round finnished. An uppercut hurt Ndongeni in the seventh round.
Other than attempting to occasionally surprise Barboza with a looping right hand, Ndongeni didn’t seem to have much of a game plan. Ndongeni is the the former lightweight champion of South Africa and of the lightly regarded WBF. He also held the African Boxing Union junior welterweight title.
Barboza dismantled his opponent despite a small trickle blood forming around his left eye mid-way through the scheduled 10 rounds. Barboza had control from the sixth round forward and was clearly dominating.
In his previous bout, which took place in February of last year, Barboza prevailed over former two-division champion Jose Pedraza by unanimous decision. But, was unable to secure the necessary matches with Top Rank, and in an attempt to restart his formerly bright career, the 32-year-old has switched to Golden Boy Promotions.
The 140-pound class is becoming one of the most intriguing in boxing. Fighters like Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez, and Regis Prograis have all abruptly made this division their home. These and other names are currently positioned between the 147-pound division, won by Terrence Crawford, and the 135-pound division, dominated by Gervonta Davis.
Former world champion Ryan Garcia was called out by Barboza, in the ring who he disparaged as “Queen Ryan” in the ring following his victory. It’s unclear whether Garcia would be interested in that fight. Garcia has not yet disclosed his 2024 plans.
Barboza is also running a campaign to try and challenge the second-biggest name in the 140-pound class. Teofimo Lopez holds the WBO title in that weight class and is the current Ring champion. Barboza’s triumph has kept him in the running to fight for that crown. Ringside on Saturday, Lopez and Barboza had some heated exchanges as the latter tried to start the fight with words.
In fact, it could be argued that there was more action outside the ring than inside the two main fights on the card, as Bernard Hopkins challenged Devon Haney’s father, Billy Haney, to a street fight after another exchange and other ringside clashes were shared on social media.
“I am not going to give you what you want,” said Lopez with a smile during one heated exchange with Barboza seemingly ruling out a match with the LBC born fighter.
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