Brian Norman Jnr will return to the ring in May, sources close to the fighter have confirmed with BoxingScene.
Norman lost his WBO welterweight title in November, dropping a unanimous decision to three-division titleholder Devin Haney in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Since the loss, Norman, 28-1 (22 KOs), has made headlines: His father and longtime coach, Brian Norman Snr, will no longer be his head trainer. Norman has been spotted working with Derrick James and Ronnie Shields, but he has not yet announced who will train him next.
Norman is currently ranked No. 9 in the IBF rankings, No. 4 in the WBO and No. 8 in the WBC. Sources say that Norman is trying to put himself in a position to potentially challenge the winner of Lewis Crocker-Liam Paro, in which Crocker will be making the first defense of his IBF welterweight title.
A 25-year-old from Conyers, Georgia, Norman stopped Giovani Santillan in Santillan’s hometown of San Diego to earn the WBO interim welterweight title in May 2024. He was elevated to outright titleholder in August 2024 when Terence Crawford moved up to junior middleweight to face then-titleholder Israil Madrimov. Norman then made two defenses of his belt, the second a stoppage victory over Jin Sasaki – one of the best knockouts of the year.
Before his bout with Haney, Norman re-signed with Top Rank. He saw an uptick in his popularity during the build-up to the Haney fight, thanks in part to a pre-fight vignette showing elements of his personality – a change from his typical reserved nature.
There is no word on a venue for the fight or a possible opponent for Norman at this time.
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
