In October 2018, at the WBC annual convention in Kiev, it was announced that Jermell Charlo would be allowed to make another voluntary defence and Lara was ordered to fight Julian Williams (25-1-1, 15 KOs, 1 NC) in a final eliminator. At the time, Williams was already IBF's #1 ranked. On 30 October, according to Brian Castaño's manager Sebastian Contursis, a deal was being worked out to have Castaño fight Lara. A date in January 2019 was being discussed. In order for Castaño to defend his WBA (Regular) belt against Lara, the WBA granted him a special permit.