Angel Acosta To Defend WBO Light Flyweight Titles In Puerto Rico In June
Angel Acosta's first WBO light flyweight title defense will see him go back to his home country of Puerto Rico.
Acosta will fight former minimumweight world title challenger Carlos Buitrago on June 16 at Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rican star is one of several boxers who have won world titles in the past year under Miguel Cotto's promotional company. After Acosta failed to win the WBO title last May against Kosei Tanaka, Tanaka moved up in weight, vacating the title and giving Acosta another chance to win a world title. On the undercard of Miguel Cotto's retirement fight against Sadam Ali last December, Acosta knocked out Juan Alejo to capture the WBO title.
Buitrago, previously ranked in the IBF's top 10 in their minimumweight rankings, is coming off a loss to IBF minimumweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi on the traditional New Year's Eve boxing event in Japan. Buitrago has held numerous regional titles at 105 pounds and has fought a handful of times at light flyweight.
The fight will be broadcast on DirecTV in Puerto Rico through an agreement between the cable company and Miguel Cotto Promotions. This will be the first boxing event held at the venue since 2009 when Puerto Rican icon Ivan Calderon retained the WBO light flyweight title with a technical decision win over Rodel Mayol.