Arnold Barboza Jr. will enjoy his quickest career turnaround in more than three years.

The unbeaten 140-pound contender is confirmed to appear in the co-feature slot of the April 20 Devin Haney-Ryan Garcia DAZN Pay-Per-View event from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. An opponent is not yet finalized for the 32-year-old from South El Monte, California, though he is open to face anyone—including either side of the main event.

“We don’t have an opponent yet, working on that right now,” Barboza confirmed prior to Thursday’s press conference at Avalon Hollywood. “But you never know, someone might fall out and we might be able to move into that.”

Barboza (29-0, 11 knockouts)—ranked No. 8 at 140 by The Ring—will fight for the second time in 2024 with his placement on the show. He recently stopped Xolisani Ndongeni in the eighth round on January 6 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The bout marked his debut with Golden Boy Promotions, the lead promoter for the April 20 show in association with Devin Haney Promotions, KingRy Promotions and Matchroom Boxing.

The ability to remain active and position for big fights within the division was a motivating factor for Barboza to sign with Golden Boy—and in particular, Hall of Fame former six-division titlist and company chairman Oscar De La Hoya.

“Oscar got to work right away,” noted Barboza, who is managed by Rick Mirigian. “It’s a blessing. Not only did I sign with them to get a big fight, but I see the blueprint for how he’s made fighters. He made Ryan, he made Floyd (Mayweather)… that’s the reason I came over here. “

Barboza made the move after eight years with Top Rank. The two sides parted ways last July, five months after a ten-round win over Jose Pedraza last February 3—his lone fight of 2023, after he fought just once each in 2021 and 2022. He fought twice in a seven-week span in the second half of 2020, both fights which came after the sport resumed that June following the global pandemic.

The slot on the Haney-Garcia card will give Barboza some much needed visibility in a red-hot 140-pound division. He is currently ranked number-one by the WBO, whose title is currently held by two-division and current 140-pound Ring champion Teofimo Lopez Jr. (20-1, 13 KOs).

Barboza is also number-five by the WBC, whose title Haney (31-0, 15 KOs; No. 1 at 140 by The Ring) will defend for the first time versus Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) in the April 20 headliner. He plans to have an official opponent in the coming days but doesn’t necessarily mind his temporary and unofficial status as a potential standby challenger should anything happen to either side of the main event.

“You never know,” Barboza quipped. “Someone might not be training hard, tickets are the way they are, we have to give a good fight.”

Jake Donovan is the newest member of The Ring family. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox