Mikaela Mayer will defend her Ring, IBF and WBO junior lightweight belts against Jennifer Han on April 9, Top Rank announced Monday.

The 10-round bout will take place inside The Hangar at the Orange County Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, California. In the co-feature, unbeaten welterweight Giovani Santillan will square off against Jeovanis Barraza of Colombia.

Both fights will air live on ESPN (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).

April 9 will mark a homecoming for Mayer (16-0, 5 knockouts) as she will be fighting in Southern California for the first time in almost four years. Mayer, who now resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado, grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills.

Mayer last fought on November 5, defeating Maiva Hamadouche by unanimous decision in what turned out to be an action fight. Mayer won Hamadouche’s IBF world title in the process.

The 31-year-old was an amateur standout who represented the United States at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Mayer is ranked No. 7 pound-for-pound by The Ring. Mayer’s previous fight took place on June 19, defeating Erica Farias of Argentina by unanimous decision.

“Big props to Jennifer Han for taking this fight,” said Mayer, who is trained by Al Mitchell and managed by George Ruiz. “Everyone knows I’ve been in pursuit of (being) undisputed, but since the other two champs are being reserved for each other, I had to look elsewhere to stay busy. Han stepped up.

“I believed I separated myself in my last fight against Hamadouche by displaying my versatility, and I want to continue to do that. I want to show that I can adapt to any style and that I’m the most well-rounded boxer out there.”

Han (18-4-1, 1 KO), who resides in El Paso, Texas, lost to undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor by unanimous decision in her last bout on September 4. Han, the older brother of Abraham Han, had won her previous eight bouts.

The 38-year-old won the vacant IBF women’s featherweight title by defeating Helen Joseph in September 2015. She would make four successful defenses of the title before moving up in weight.

Santillan (28-0, 15 KOs) last fought on October 15 in his hometown of San Diego, California, defeating Angel Ruiz by unanimous decision. His previous fight took place on June 26, when he defeated Cecil McCalla over eight one-sided rounds.

Barraza (23-2, 15 KOs) was stopped in the ninth round by once-beaten Alexis Rocha in his last bout on November 13. The 26-year-old had won his previous three bouts since losing by knockout to Gabriel Maestre in July 2019.

Top Rank also announced several fighters in action during the preliminary portion of the card. Twin brothers, bantamweight contender Jason Moloney (22-2, 18 KOs) and junior bantamweight contender Andrew Moloney (22-2, 14 KOs), will see action, along with featherweight contender Luis Alberto Lopez (24-2, 13 KOs) and Olympic Silver medalist Duke Ragan (4-0, 1 KO).

In a long-awaited debut, 2020 U.S. Olympian Virginia Fuchs will appear in in a six-round flyweight bout.

“We are thrilled to return to Southern California with Mikaela Mayer defending her world titles on ESPN against a top contender in Jennifer Han,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Mikaela is on her way to fully unifying the division, and she has a big opportunity to make a statement in front of her home fans.”

A press release by Top Rank was used in this article.

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