Junior welterweight contender Arnold Barboza, Jr. has secured his release from Top Rank, manager Rick Mirigian confirmed to The Ring Sunday morning.

ESPN’s Mike Coppinger was the first to break the story on Friday.

Barboza (28-0, 10 knockouts), who lives and trains in Los Angeles, is currently ranked No. 6 by The Ring.

The 31-year-old last fought on February 3, defeating former world titleholder Jose Pedraza by unanimous decision. Barboza has also defeated Danielito Zorrilla and Alex Saucedo by decision.

Mirigian told The Ring efforts were made to have Barboza fight Teofimo Lopez after Lopez moved up in weight to 140 pounds early last year. According to Mirigian, Lopez decided to face Pedro Campa in August of last year.

“Top Rank did their best to get Barboza a fight three times with Lopez and he rejected them,” Mirigian told The Ring. “(We) were prepared to make the fight with (Jose) Ramirez. I want to thank Top Rank for that effort and allowing Barboza the chance to secure other opportunities out there right now and not hold up his career.”

Barboza has fought under the Top Rank banner since December 2014. Barboza was a staple on ‘Solo Boxeo’ cards that were televised on UniMas and Telefutura, eventually fighting on ESPN platforms.

There are different promotional companies Barboza could sign with, including Matchroom Boxing, Golden Boy Promotions and Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). Recently, Barboza got into a war of words with WBC world titleholder Regis Prograis on social media. Prograis recently signed a promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing.

“I now look forward to trying to secure the best and biggest fights out there,” Barboza told ESPN’s Coppinger.

Barboza is trained by his father, Arnold Barboza, Sr.

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 at [email protected]

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