Jon Fernandez will put his European junior welterweight title on the line for the first time when he faces Somay Bilal on March 14.

Kamikaze Promotions and PCI Promotions will co-promote the event in front of Fernandez home fans in Bilbao, Spain.

Fernandez (28-3, 23 KOs) had to patiently wait his turn for a EBU title opportunity. Shots at previous titleholders Dalton Smith and Pierce O'Leary didn't come, but when the title became vacant, he made the most of it and stopped Armando Casamonica in five rounds on November 22.

Fernandez turned professional at 19 back in 2015 at 130 pounds. After running his record to 17-0, he lost for the first time against future WBC 130-pound beltholder O'Shaquie Foster (UD 12) in America in September 2018.

The 30-year-old notched with five wins at home before returning stateside where he was stopped at lightweight by Michel Rivera (KO 8) in July 2021.

He again got back in the win column before coming up short in a Spanish junior welterweight title fight with Samuel Molina (UD 12), who has since gone on to become European welterweight champion. 'Jonfer' is on a five-fight win streak which includes wins over faded former WBA 130-pound kingpin Jezzrel Corrales (UD 10) and Ricardo Nunez (DQ 3) last June.

Bilal (18-1, 6 KOs) has been a professional since 2014. He built up much of his early career in his native Netherlands. After running his record to 13-0, he tasted defeat for the first time when he went to Belgium and lost to Surik Petrosyan (UD 10).

The 33-year-old southpaw returned home and has won five lower-level fights to land this opportunity.