Murodjon Akhmadaliev will face Ronny Rios on June 25 in defense of his World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight belt and IBF belt at the Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, Texas. 

Matchroom Boxing announced on Tuesday the date and venue of the pioneer organization’s mandatory fight, where the world champion takes on his mandatory challenger. 

The Uzbek will be making the third defense of his pioneer body belt, which he won January 2021 when he defeated Daniel Roman by split decision. He has since defended it against Japan’s Ryosuke Iwasa in April 2021 and Jose Velazquez in November 2021. 

Rios is on a roll and has won four fights in a row, which have enabled him to reach the top of the WBA rankings and the right to face the champion. He has not lost since 2018 and is very motivated for this opportunity he had been waiting for so long. 

Akhmadaliev is undefeated in 10 fights, with 7 knockouts, while Rios has 33 wins, 3 losses and 16 knockouts.