Raymond Ford will try to win another world title belt, but in a different weight class.
Ford will face Orlando Gonzalez on Nov. 9, promoter Eddie Hearn announced Friday. The 10-round bout will take place at Wells Fargo Arena and will precede the main event between IBF world welterweight titleholder Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Karen Chukhadzhian.
Also taking place on the Matchroom Boxing card, Jesse Rodriguez will defend his Ring Magazine junior bantamweight championship and WBC world title belt against Pedro Guevara.
All three fights will be streamed live on DAZN.
“World Featherweight Champion @raysavage856 makes his move to 130 pounds in Philly!” Eddie Hearn said in a post on social media platforms. “’The Savage’ and Two Kings…. at a monster show in Philadelphia, Nov. 9.
Ford (15-1, 8 KOs) will fight in front of a partisan crowd while living in Camden, New Jersey, which is across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.
The 25-year-old southpaw won the WBA world featherweight title on March 2, coming back from an early deficit to stop Otabek Kholmatov in the final round. Entering the final round, Ford trailed 106-103 on two of the judges’ scorecards.
Ford became the first American-born fighter drafted out of the amateurs to win a world title under the Matchroom Boxing banner. Ford and super-middleweight contender Diego Pacheco were Matchroom Boxing’s first two American homegrown signings straight out of the amateur ranks.
In his first attempt to defend the WBA featherweight title, which took place on June 1, Ford lost by split decision to Nick Ball.
The move to 130 pounds should come as no surprise, as Ford moved up a weight class from featherweight as recently as after the knockout win over Kholmatov.
Gonzalez (23-2, 13 KOs), who lives in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, last fought on June 28 in a busy fight, stopping gatekeeper Jose Santos Gonzalez after round three. In his previous fight on November 29, southpaw Gonzalez won by split decision over Jorge Castaneda.
The 29-year-old has fought his last three fights under the ProBox TV banner. He is an older cousin of undefeated junior lightweight Henry Lebron and has won his last five fights since losing to Misael Lopez in September 2022.
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)
