WBO bantamweight champion Johnriel Casimero is set to defend his belt against WBA regular titleholder Guillermo Rigondeaux in August.
The Premier Boxing Champions and the Showtime Boxing announced on Friday that Casimero will lock horns with Rigondeaux in a bantamweight championship bout on August 14, making it one of the nine cards in the "Showtime Championship Boxing" from May to September.
The fight has finally materialized after reports surfaced that the two have mutually expressed their desire to clash in the ring.
Casimero, 32, rides on a six-match win streak with the latest coming from a technical knockout win over Ghanaian pug Duke Micah last September, marking his first fight amid the COVID-19 pandemic on a high note.
Casimero, who owns a 30-4 record on top of 21 KOs, has been calling out unified IBF and WBA super champion Naoya Inoue of Japan several times but it has not transpired yet due to various reasons.
The Casimero-Inoue bout was reset twice as Hall of Fame promoter and Top Rank chief Bob Arum eventually matched up Inoue against Jason Moloney of Australia.
The Japanese icon had defended his titles in a seventh-round knockout win against the Aussie foe in October 2020 to remain undefeated at 20-0 record with 17 KOs.
Rigondeaux, for his part, last saw action in February last year, scoring a split decision victory over Liborio Solis of Venezuela to climb at 20-1 slate with 13 KOs.
His lone defeat came from former Ukrainian champion Vasyl Lomachenko in December 2017.
MP (Manny Pacquiao) Promotions president Sean Gibbons earlier expressed his confidence that the Filipino champion would retire the 40-year-old Rigondeaux.