Former featherweight world titlist Lee Selby will move up two weight classes for his next fight.
Selby will take on Omar Douglas in a lightweight bout that will take place on Feb. 23 at the O2 Arena in London on the undercard of the all-British super middleweight grudge match between rivals James DeGale (25-2-1, 15 KOs), a former world titlist, and Chris Eubank Jr. (27-2, 21 KOs), Premier Boxing Champions and Poxon Sports announced on Monday.
Selby, 31, of Wales, lost his featherweight belt by split decision in his last fight to Josh Warrington on May 19.
Selby (26-2, 9 KOs) has struggled to make the 126-pound featherweight limit for quite some time and decided to go all the way to up to the 135-pound lightweight division, where attractive matches await him if he defeats Douglas (19-2, 13 KOs), 27, of Wilmington, Delaware.
Selby, who is 5-0 at the O2 Arena, made four title defenses before the loss to Warrington, after which he said he should have moved up in weight sooner.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge of becoming a two-weight world champion,” Selby said. “The move up in weight was long overdue so that’s why we’ve chosen to jump up two weight classes to the lightweight division.
“There are so many fights to look forward to with big domestic fights like (Luke) Campbell, (Anthony) Crolla and (Ricky) Burns along with some of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world like Vasiliy Lomachenko and Mikey Garcia. The featherweight division was one of the toughest weight classes and I reached the top as IBF world champion. It’s the same mission now at lightweight and I can’t wait to get back to business on Feb. 23.”
Douglas, who has been fighting as a junior lightweight, has won two fights in a row since suffering back-to-back 10-round decision losses in close bouts with Edner Cherry and former world titlist Javier Fortuna.
“Lee Selby is a solid fighter, but I know in my heart that I’m an undefeated fighter and that will make me very dangerous and I will show it on Feb. 23,” Douglas said. “I will show I’m a major player at junior lightweight. Although this fight is at 135 pounds I want the world to see that I’m one of the top guys at 130 and put the champions on notice.”