Joseph Diaz last entered the ring as a willing replacement for Ryan Garcia, with every intention of facing the unbeaten lightweight in his next fight.

That wish has come true.

krikya360.com has confirmed that Garcia and Diaz have agreed to terms for a terrific lightweight matchup to take place November 27 on DAZN from a venue to be determined in the greater Los Angeles area. Both boxers acknowledged a deal in place as have representatives from Golden Boy Promotions, all confirming a breaking news report from ESPN.com boxing insider Mike Coppinger.

An official announcement is expected no later than Monday.

Garcia (21-0, 18KOs) headlined the first major show of 2021, scoring a seventh-round knockout of England’s Luke Campbell on January 2 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The unbeaten 23-year-old lightweight contender from Victorville, California recovered from a second-round knockdown to otherwise overwhelm Campbell, a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist and two-time title challenger whom he dropped and stopped in round seven of their DAZN-aired thriller.

Efforts to get Garcia back in the ring proved to be a more daunting task. The popular rising star was linked to fights—or at least negotiations—with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Manny Pacquiao and Javier Fortuna all for the spring, only for none of the matchups to materialize. Garcia finally agreed to a fight with Fortuna to take place July 9 at Banc of California Stadium, only to withdraw from the event to instead focus on mental health issues, including a years-long battle with anxiety.

The July 11 show moved forward, with Diaz (32-1-1, 15KOs) stepping in to replace Diaz.

The opportunity came right on time for the 2012 U.S. Olympian, who earlier in the year was forced to leave his IBF junior lightweight title at the scale after missing weight for an eventual twelve-round draw with Shavkat Rakhimov this past February 13 at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. Diaz missed weight by more than three pounds, thus ending his 13-month title reign with a whimper, failing to make a single successful defense after claiming the belt in a 12-round, unanimous decision win over Tevin Farmer last January 30 in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Diaz found redemption in the form of a strong showing versus Fortuna, moving up to lightweight in style in claiming a well-earned decision victory by scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112. The fight came with the WBC interim title at stake, the same belt claimed by Garcia in his win over Campbell and which was to lead to a showdown versus Devin Haney, who holds the full version of the WBC crown.

Just as Garcia headed in a different direction, so too did Diaz despite a lengthy war of words with Haney through social media. The two teased the possibility of meeting later this year, though while Diaz was already negotiating a fight with Garcia.

A ruling from the WBC further enabled the possibility of Garcia-Diaz, approving the bout to take place for the WBC interim title and once again declaring that Haney was due to face the winner.

Haney remains without an opponent for a targeted title defense in December.

Garcia-Diaz marks the second significant fight to take place Thanksgiving weekend. The DAZN main event will go head-to-head with the rescheduled WBC/WBO junior featherweight title unification match between unbeaten titlists Brandon Figueroa (22-0-1, 17KOs) and Stephen Fulton (19-0, 8KOs) on Showtime from Park MGM in Las Vegas.

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