O’Shaquie Foster: The Odd Man Out at 130

Three of the four major champions at junior lightweight are about to get busy. O’Shaquie Foster? He’ll be ringside watching.

Emanuel Navarrete and Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez collide Saturday in Glendale for the WBO and IBF belts. On March 14, Jazza Dickens and Anthony Cacace sort out the WBA side in Dublin.

Meanwhile, Foster, the WBC champion, has no date, no opponent, and no guarantee that the division’s momentum will swing his way. So he’s speaking up before the belts consolidate without him.

“I’m really interested to see if the winner will really look my way,” Foster told BoxingScene. He talked about staying at 130 for unifications or moving to 135 to “see who I can beat up.”

That isn’t the posture of a champion directing traffic. It’s a titleholder trying to make sure he doesn’t become the extra belt nobody rushes to collect.

Foster committed to 130 after beating Stephen Fulton in December, choosing not to stay at lightweight despite briefly holding an interim strap there. His plan is clear: unify and close out the division. The issue is timing. Navarrete and Nunez are about to control two belts between them. Dickens already has his next assignment. Foster is the one waiting on the phone to ring.

He also made sure to remind everyone that Nunez declined a previous offer to fight him when he first won the WBC title. That wasn’t a random comment. If Nunez wins Saturday, Foster wants that history hanging in the air. If Navarrete wins, Foster is banking on shared promotional ties making the path smoother, even if there’s no obvious platform urgency pushing the fight.

Saturday will produce a unified champion and shift the balance at 130. Foster’s belt gives him a seat at the table. It doesn’t guarantee he’ll be served first. He’s got to hope that the winner of the Navarrete vs. Nunez fight will want to fight him. He doesn’t have the popularity to guarantee that they will, unfortunately.