Fidel Maldonado Jr. to challenge Ismael Barroso on October 13

Fidel Maldonado Jr. Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

Aug

Junior welterweight Fidel Maldonado Jr. will square off against former lightweight title challenger Ismael Barroso on October 13, it was announced on Thursday morning.

The 10-round bout will take place at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. ESPN will broadcast the fight live, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT.

The Maldonado-Barroso clash is an intriguing crossroads bout between two hard-hitting southpaws whose careers are heading in different directions.

Maldonado (24-3-1, 19 knockouts) was dropped in round six in his most recent bout on June 17 but was able to grind out a split decision over Pablo Cesar Cano.

The 26-year-old Maldonado, who resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is unbeaten in his last six bouts since losing to Amir Imam in January of 2015.

Barroso (19-1-2, 8 KOs), who hails from El Tigre, Venezuela, has not fought since May 7 of last year, when he was knocked out by then-WBA lightweight titlist Anthony Crolla. Barroso was up on the scorecards until the stoppage.

Barroso also stopped Kevin Mitchell in December of 2015.

In the co-feature bout, Pablo Cesar Cano (30-6-1, 21 KOs) faces Marcelino Nicolas Lopez in a 10-round junior welterweight bout.

With the loss to Maldonado, the Mexico City resident has lost two of his last three bouts.

Lopez (32-2-1, 17 KOs), who hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina, lost a 10-round split decision to Michael Perez on April 20.

ESPN3.com will air the entire Golden Boy Promotions card, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET/ 5:30 p.m. PT.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV.com since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, BoxingScene.com and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.

Struggling to locate a copy of THE RING Magazine? Try here or…

You can subscribe to the print and digital editions of THE RING Magazine by clicking the banner or here. You can also order the current issue, which is on newsstands, or back issues from our subscribe page. On the cover this month: Anthony Joshua