Raymond Muratalla’s second defense of his IBF lightweight title will take place August 1 versus Brazil’s former super-featherweight world champion Robson Conceicao in Las Vegas.
An official familiar with the negotiations confirmed the information to BoxingScene Sunday after DAZN and Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix first reported the news.
It marks a second consecutive bout against an Olympic gold medalist for Fontana, California’s Muratalla, 24-0 (17KOs), who made his first successful title defense in January in a fight-of-the-year contender versus Cuba’s 2021 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz.
Muratalla, 29, inherited the IBF title when two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko retired last year.
Originally, BoxingScene was told Muratalla promoter Top Rank aimed to give Muratalla a homecoming title defense August 8 at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
Top Rank’s union with DAZN, however, allowed for the bout to strengthen the August 1 DAZN card being promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
In a bout for the vacant WBC lightweight title, Golden Boy’s recent title challenger William Zepeda, 33-1 (27KOs), of Mexico will meet former super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach Jnr, 25-1-3 (10 KOs), in the main event.
The venue in Las Vegas has not been finalized, but MGM Grand appears open.
The 37-year-old Conceicao, 21-3-1 (10 KOs), won his gold medal at the Summer Games in Brazil in 2016, then claimed the WBC super-featherweight title in a disputed split-decision over current champion O’Shaquie Foster, who avenged his loss by split decision less than four months later.
Conceicao is the IBF’s No. 12-ranked contender has fought twice in Brazil since the Foster loss, knocking out Yonnaiquer Rondon in August, then defeating Helber Rojas, 26-15-2, on April 4.
