by Francisco Salazar

Lightweight contenders Juan Diaz and Ray Beltran will square off on December 10, Top Rank announced today.

The 10 round bout will take place at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The bout will precede the 12 round junior welterweight title bout between Terence Crawford and John Molina.

Both fights will air live on HBO.

Diaz (42-4, 21 KOs), a former unified world champion who resides in Houston, Tex., is coming off an eighth round knockout win over Cesar Vazquez on August 6. He has won his last seven bouts, all against modest opposition.

Beltran (31-7-1 1 NC, 19 KOs) stopped Miguel Angel Mendoza in the fifth round of his last bout on September 10. He has won his last two bouts.

The 35-year-old Beltran would have won the WBO World lightweight title in May of last year with his knockout win over Takahiro Ao, but the result was overturned when Beltran failed a post-fight drug test.

The winner of Diaz-Beltran would likely put themselves in a position to fight for a world title belt in 2017. Diaz is ranked number 11 by the WBO, while Beltran is ranked number 11 by the WBC.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for krikya360.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing