The Ring has learned that their 12-round bout is tabbed to take place May 23 at a venue to be decided in Spain. The European 168-pound championship became vacant because Troy Williamson was contractually obligated to face British rival Callum Simpson in an immediate rematch and the EBU doesn’t permit direct rematches.

Spain’s Navarro and Denmark’s Zaren were subsequently mandated to meet for the vacant crown.

When their representatives couldn’t come to an agreement, the fight went to a purse bid. Both sides bid, but Navarro’s promoter, JHM Promotions, won the rights to the fight with a bid of €171,113 (nearly $200,000), which will be split 50-50.

That bid beat out Primetime Boxing, which put up €50,005.00.

Navarro (17-2, 12 KOs) has won eight straight fights since Gustave Tamba knocked him out in the second round in November 2023. Ronny Landaeta also beat him by sixth-round technical knockout three bouts before Tamba defeated him.

Zaren (19-0, 8 KOs), a 26-year-old southpaw, is trained by former super middleweight champ Mikkel Kessler. He dominated Ante Bilic two fights ago and followed up that 10-round, unanimous-decision win October 4 by knocking out David Benitez in the second round of a tune-up bout January 31.