Foster eyes lightweight move if Navarrete fight falls through

WBC junior lightweight champion O'Shaquie Foster will leave 130 pounds behind if he cannot secure a unification fight with Emanuel Navarrete.

Foster told The Ring's Rick Reeno on the Mr. Verzace Podcast that he wants Navarrete's scalp and the IBF and WBO titles that come with it, but the Texas native has no interest in waiting around if the bout falls through. Instead, he'll move up to lightweight and target the winner of the August 1 vacant WBC title fight between Lamont Roach and William Zepeda at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

Why Foster is ready to jump from 130 to 135

"That's most likely the move if we can't get Navarrete," Foster said, per The Ring. "I'm looking real close at Lamont and Zepeda. I'm paying real close attention. I think the 135 division is hot. We gonna get it boiling when we get up there, then we're gonna cool everything down."

The 32-year-old from Orange already has lightweight experience. He stopped Stephen Fulton in December to claim the WBC interim strap at 135, though he vacated that belt to stay at junior lightweight. Fulton had missed weight by two pounds for what was originally scheduled as a 130-pound title defense.

Foster rates second at junior lightweight behind Navarrete, who added the IBF belt to his WBO title with an 11th-round stoppage of Eduardo Nunez in February. The champion believes a showdown with Navarrete will happen eventually, and he told Reeno he plans to climb even higher before his career ends, naming welterweight as a potential landing spot.

Roach and Zepeda meet August 1 in Las Vegas for the vacant WBC lightweight title.

Source: ringmagazine.com