Arnold Khegai has a new promoter to guide his career.

The featherweight contender has signed a multi-fight promotional deal with Top Rank, it was announced Tuesday afternoon.

“Arnold Khegai is one of the very best featherweights in the world, and he deserves an opportunity to prove himself at the championship level,” said Bob Arum, Chairman of Top Rank. 

Manager Sam Katkovski agrees. 

“Arnold is an incredibly dedicated and talented fighter,” said Katkovski. “He will be the next world champion from Ukraine, following the footsteps of (Oleksandr) Usyk and (Vasiliy) Lomachenko. Thank you to Top Rank for the opportunity.”

Khegai (23-1-1, 12 knockouts) was born in Lymanske, Ukraine to parents from South Korea. He currently lives in Los Angeles. Khegai was a two-time world champion in Thai boxing before becoming a national champion in the boxing amateur ranks.

The 32-year-old Khegai fought a handful of his fights on Showtime programming, including a unanimous decision to Stephen Fulton in a clash of 122-pound contenders in January 2020. Since then Khegai has won his last five bouts.

In his last bout on January 27, Khegai dropped Jon Martinez twice en route to a third round knockout win.

Khegai hopes to equal the success, if not more, at 126 pounds.

“Signing with Top Rank is a huge milestone in my career, and I’m grateful to Bob Arum for this opportunity,” said Khegai. “I’m ready to fight for any of the (world title) belts at featherweight. I want to show the world who I am.”

Top Rank announced a return date to the ring for Khegai this summer. 

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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