WBA junior featherweight beltholder and two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux will meet once-beaten Robert Marroquin on the Sept. 15 undercard of the HBO Pay Per View main event between RING middleweight champion Sergio Martinez and WBC beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Top Rank CEO Bob Arum informed RingTV.com on Thursday.

Rigondeaux (10-0, 8 KOs), a Miami-based Cuban southpaw who turns 32 in September, will be after his fourth straight stoppage win against Marroquin (22-1, 15 KOs), a Dallas native who turns 23 on Aug. 21. 

Rigondeaux is coming off a fifth-round knockout of Philadelphia’s Teon Kennedy (17-2-2, 7 KOs), whom he floored five times during a dominating performance on the undercard of Tim Bradley’s split-decision over Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Prior to facing Kennedy, Rigondeaux has scored first- and sixth-round knockouts over a pair of previously unbeaten fighters in Willie Casey and Rico Ramos in March of last year and January, respectively. Rigondeaux dethroned Ramos as WBA titleholder.

“He is fighting more of the professional style and he’s going out and he’s throwing punches,” said Arum of Rigondeaux, who has abandoned what had been an unspectacular amateur style for one that has produced sensational knockouts in his past three fights. “Rigondeaux has become a very engaging, crowd-pleasing fighter.”

Marroquin has won three straight fights since losing by split-decision to Francisco Leal in April of last year, and is coming off a second-round knockout of Arturo Santiago last month.

“Marroquin is a good, young fighter, and he’s been looking for a big challenge,” said Arum. “For him, Rigondeaux is the biggest challenge out there, and it should be a really good fight.”

Arum has said that Rigondeaux could one day be in line to face WBO counterpart Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18 KOs), who is coming off a unanimous decision over IBF beltholder Jeffrey Mathebula on July 7.

Arum said that there is also a chance that two-time middleweight title challenger Matthew Macklin (28-4, 119 KOs), of England, could be on the card.

Macklin’s promoter, Lou DiBella, had informed RingTV.com that middleweight contender will face Haitian-born Joachim Alcine (33-2-1, 19 KOs) of Canada, who is coming off an upset win over David Lemieux in December.

Macklin has lost his last two title bouts by disputed split-decision to WBA beltholder Felix Sturm and 11th-round knockout to Martinez in June of last year and March, respectively.

Photos by Chris Farina, Top Rank.

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]