Junior lightweight contender Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jr. will face Jesus Cuadro on September 21, manager Ralph Heredia confirmed to The Ring Monday afternoon.

The 10-round bout will take place at the Auditoro PSF in Mexicali, Mexico. Also on the Golden Boy Promotions card, junior featherweight contender Leonardo Baez will fight in his hometown against Edixon Perez in a 10-round bout.

Both fights will stream live on Facebook Watch on Golden Boy Promotions “Fight Night” page.

Diaz (29-1, 15 knockouts), who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, most recently fought on May 4 in Las Vegas, battering Francisco Fonseca before the fight was stopped in round seven. The southpaw has won his last three bouts since suffering his only defeat at the hands of WBC featherweight titleholder Gary Russell Jr. on May 19 of last year.

Gary Russell Jr. (left) vs. Joseph Diaz Jr. Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/Showtime

The 26-year-old Diaz, who has fought under the Golden Boy Promotions banner since his pro debut in December of 2012, is ranked No. 6 by The Ring at 130 pounds. He is also ranked No. 2 by the WBC and No. 5 by the WBO.

Heredia is eyeing a possible world title bout for Diaz against IBF titlist Tevin Farmer later this year or in early-2020.

“In a perfect world, I would like to JoJo to fight Tevin in December,” Heredia told The Ring over the phone Monday afternoon. “We’re not overlooking Cuadro on September 21. We have to take care of business on that date.”

“JoJo was already training for September 14, which didn’t work out because the Canelo (Alvarez) fight fell through. He’s had a long training camp, so it’s a stay-busy fight. We hope JoJo doesn’t come out of the fight with any cuts or serious injuries. We want that showdown with Tevin. Since the confrontation (at the pre-fight press conference) in May between the two, the boxing fans have been interested in that fight, especially the war of words on social media. It’s always been that our ultimate goal has been a world title fight and that’s what we’re going to push for after September 21.”

Cuadro (18-5, 14 KOs), originally from Caracas, Venezuela and now residing in Tijuana, Mexico, is also a southpaw. He most recently fought on July 27 in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, knocking out Luis Rosa in the opening round.

In his previous fight on May 16, the 33-year-old Cuadro lost a close unanimous decision to unbeaten Roman Andreev of Russia.

Baez (16-2, 9 KOs) will be fighting for the first time in his hometown of Mexicali since a split decision victory over Christian Bacasegua on March 15. In his most recent bout on July 18, Baez scored an upset victory over prospect and former amateur standout Alberto Melian of Argentina.

The 24-year-old Baez has won his last four bouts since a decision loss to Alfredo Mejia Vargas on September 22.

Perez (19-4, 14 KOs), who resides in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, lost to unbeaten Alberto Soares of Brazil in his most recent bout on August 3, despite scoring a knockdown in round six. Perez has fought in Mexicali before, losing a decision to unbeaten prospect Jose Durantes last November 17. He was originally scheduled to fight Diego De La Hoya, who is from Mexicali, but De La Hoya had to withdraw two days before the fight after reportedly collapsing from attempting to make weight.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring 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 FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.

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