Ramos-Rigondeaux in December?

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux will pursue the ninth win of his burgeoning career when he meets undefeated WBA junior featherweight titleholder Rico Ramos of Los Angeles in a clash that is targeted for Dec. 17, according to Top Rank Inc. CEO Bob Arum.

Top Rank Inc. Vice President Carl Moretti won the purse bid on Monday in Panama, and with it, the right for the promotional company to play host to the fight, said Arum.

"The date that we're looking at is Dec. 17, and we'll have it on our Top Rank Live series," said Arum. "We'll have it at the place in Oklahoma, the Wind Star Casino, where we do about four shows per year."

The 31-year-old Rigondeaux (8-0, 6 KOs) won the WBA's interim belt by split-decision over Ricardo Cordoba on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao's unanimous decision over Antonio Margarito for the WBC's since-vacated junior middleweight crown. His most recent win was a first-round knockout of Willie Casey (12-1, 8 KOs) in March.

The 24-year-old Ramos (20-0, 11 KOs) is coming off a seventh-round knockout of former WBA titleholder Akifumi Shimoda (23-3-1, 10 KOs) in July.

Considered one of the world's all-time great amateur boxers in Cuba before he defected to the United States, Rigondeaux established a new boxing record by defeating Cordoba for a title in only his seventh professional bout.

Rigondeaux eclipsed the mark by Leon Spinks, who was 7-0-1, with five knockouts after dethroning Muhammad Ali for the WBC and WBA heavyweight crowns in his eighth professional fight in February of 1978.

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lem.satterfield@gmail.com