Two months removed from a maiden career defeat, Arnold Barboza Jr is assessing his options and intimated that an overdue move up to the welterweight division beckons.

Former interim WBO junior welterweight titleholder Barboza (32-1, 11 KOs) was soundly beaten in his full championship challenge of Ring/WBO champion Teofimo Lopez on May 2 at New York City's Times Square as part of the Ring II event.

Two-and-a-half months removed from an 12-round split decision upset win over Jack Catterall in Manchester, Barboza's active schedule saw him back stateside for a long-awaited Lopez clash but there was only one winner.

Now, the Ring's No. 4-ranked contender could join Catterall in a new weight class after the Chorley man's successful, albeit anticlimactic 7th-round technical decision win over Harlem Eubank on July 5.

HE Turki Alalshikh has already promised the 32-year-old an opportunity to banish the 'boring' tag once and for all on a Riyadh Season show once fully recovered from gruesome cuts that contributed to his main event matchup being cut short earlier this month.

Barboza told BoxingScene that he's targeting a return around October or November time, having afforded himself the luxury of an extended break after an exhausting nine-month block of training and fights nonstop.

"If we get a title shot at junior welterweight, I will stay there but most likely I will move up to welterweight. I've been at 140lbs my entire career, it's time."

Barboza's workmanlike style is effective but far from pretty while his stock has dropped considerably after the manner of his Lopez defeat. As such, this declaration doesn't come as a surprise.

The California native, who began his career at the 147-pound weight limit in 2013 but slowly scaled down the poundage to junior welter, knows there are opportunities in an ever-changing division.

The same cannot be said with as much confidence at 140lbs, where newly-minted WBC champion Subriel Matias (23-2, 22 KOs) already has a two-fight roadmap in place to box mandatory challenger Dalton Smith before an Alberto Puello rematch — provided he's victorious against the unbeaten Brit on Nov. 22.

Aussie former titlist Liam Paro has been ordered to face Lindolfo Delgado in an IBF final title eliminator for Richardson Hitchins' belt — another potential rematch — while the WBA ordered Gary Antuanne Russell-Andy Hiraoka in April, though there's no update on a fight date yet.

Alfredo Santiago (17-2, 8 KOs) is Lopez's number one contender with the WBO, though it's unclear what the champion's next move will be after a proposed Devin Haney catchweight clash mooted for August 16 at 145-pounds fell through.

Lopez's manager Keith Connolly told The Ring that August was a quick turnaround given his undisclosed personal issues, while a WBO/IBF unification against fellow New Yorker Hitchins is among the options they're said to be pursuing.