By Rick Reeno

MGM Grand, Las Vegas - WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (23-0, 16KOs) will make the first defense of his title on a date in the summer, according to Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum. The fight would likely land at venue in Council Bluffs, Iowa - which is nearby Crawford's hometown of Omaha.

Crawford captured the title in March with a dominating decision win over Ricky Burns.

The likely opponent for Crawford is the winner of Saturday's WBO eliminator between Ray Beltran (28-6-1, 17KOs) and Arash Usmanee (20-1-1, 10KOs), which is part of the HBO Pay-Per-View undercard to Manny Pacquiao-Tim Bradley II.

"Let's see what happens on Saturday night, because I would like him to fight the winner of that fight," Arum said.