The biggest card to hit Puerto Rico in years will now include an all-Boricua title fight.

krikya360.com has confirmed that Jonathan ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez and Rene Santiago have reached an agreement for their WBO junior flyweight title consolidation bout. The previously ordered fight will land on the undercard of the Amanda Serrano-Nina Meinke featherweight championship, which takes place March 2 on DAZN from Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan.

A press conference will be held Thursday afternoon in San Juan to formally announce the event, at which point Gonzalez-Santiago is expected to be revealed as part of the main show.

The matchup was put into play last November by the WBO, who ordered Gonzalez (27-3-1, 14KOs) to next defend his junior flyweight title versus Santiago (12-3, 9KOs). 

Its placement on this show is a natural fit; Gonzalez is now managed by Serrano, who will also feature flyweight newcomer Krystal Rosado on the card. Gonzalez was previously announced to appear on the undercard, versus an opponent to be determined. However, he would have been stripped of the title had the fight come versus anyone other than Santiago, who holds the interim WBO junior flyweight title.

Gonzalez won the full version of the WBO 108-pound crown in an October 2021 points victory over Mexicali’s Elwin Soto. The veteran southpaw from Caguas—who turns 33 in April—has made just two successful defenses and will enter his next fight having not fought in well over a year. His last bout came in a November 2022 points win over previously unbeaten mandatory challenger Shokichi Iwata in Saitama, Japan.

Separate illnesses forced him out of back-to-back scheduled fight dates in 2023, including his canceled plans for a unification clash versus lineal/WBC/WBA champion Kenshiro Teraji last April. An inability to make it to the ring for a planned voluntary defense last October 27 in Managua, Nicaragua ultimately put this fight into play.

Gonzalez was due to face Gerardo Zapata but fell ill during fight week and dropped out of the card. The development prompted the WBO to allow an interim title fight which saw Santiago—a 31-year old slugger from Humacao—upset 12th round knockout previously unbeaten Kevin Vivas in the evening’s makeshift main event.

Amazingly, the bout will be the first fight in P.R. for either boxer since the pandemic, and their first title fight on home soil.

Santiago’s last five fights have taken place in the Dominican Republic, Panama and Nicaragua, having not fought on his home island since January 2020.

Gonzalez’s previous ring appearance in P.R. was all the way back in March 2017. Seven of his last nine bouts have taken place in the contiguous U.S., and the other two in Japan.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox