Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte vs Dereck Chisora and the biggest boxing matches to look out for in December
Some huge names are set to return to the ring this month, including Canelo Alvarez, Vasyl Lomachenko and even Floyd Mayweather
December is set to round off 2018 with a mega month of world-class boxing.
The busy pre-festive period begins with a monster meeting between Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury for the WBC heavyweight title and rounds off with a UK PPV clash as Dillian Whyte vs Dereck Chisora II lands on the same night as Josh Warrington vs Carl Frampton.
In the meantime, pound-for-pound stars Vasyl Lomachenko and Canelo Alvarez will return to action, while Floyd Mayweather prepares for an unusual New Year’s Eve exhibition.
You can read a full rundown of the upcoming boxing schedule below.
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December 1: Adonis Stevenson vs Oleksandr Gvozdyk (WBC Light-Heavyweight Title) – Videotron Centre, Quebec, Canada
Canada’s Adonis Stevenson defends his WBC title against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in a fascinating light-heavyweight showdown which will lead into the Wilder vs Fury show. Gvozdyk is finally stepping up to world level, having emerged from the same Ukrainian background as Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk.
December 1: Jarrett Hurd vs Jason Welborn (WBA & IBF Super-Welterweight Titles) – Staples Center, LA, USA
Unified champion Jarrett Hurd tops the Wilder vs Fury undercard and will defend his belts against Britain’s Jason Welborn in a fight intended to get him back in the groove following shoulder surgery. Also on the show, Luis Ortiz and Joe Joyce fight in separate heavyweight bouts and rising light-heavyweight Anthony Yarde returns to action.
December 1: Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury (WBC Heavyweight Title) – Staples Center, LA, USA
The main event on the first day of December will undoubtedly get the month off to a flying start. Can former champion Tyson Fury return to shock the world again, or will current WBC king Deontay Wilder be too much for him on away soil?
December 8: Kell Brook vs Michael Zerafa (Super-Welterweight) – FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield, UK
Amir Khan will be largely talked about during Kell Brook’s appearance on December 8, as he’ll be in attendance to watch his probable next opponent in action. Brook will face Australia’s Michael Zerafa in a contest which should be a formality and set him up for that long-awaited domestic showdown with Khan. Also on the card Jono Carroll fights Guillaume Frenois in a final eliminator for Tevin Farmer and Josh Kelly steps up against David Avanesyan.
December 8: Vasyl Lomachenko vs Jose Pedraza (WBA & WBO Lightweight Titles) – MSG Theater, New York, USA
After a stunning knockout of WBA king Jorge Linares in May, Vasyl Lomachenko had to undergo shoulder surgery. However, the now three-weight world champion doesn’t do tune-up returns and so is jumping straight in with WBO ruler Jose Pedraza for a lightweight unification. On the undercard, Isaac Dogboe defends his WBO super-bantamweight title against Emanuel Navarrete.
December 14: Gilberto Ramirez vs Jesse Hart II (WBO Super-Middleweight Title) – Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
Mexico’s Gilberto Ramirez’s frustrating career path continues with a rematch against Jesse Hart, who he beat at the end of last year. The American has in fairness become mandatory challenger to force a second fight, but 2018 feels like another year wasted for Ramirez, who has not yet truly stamped his mark on the super-middleweight division.
December 15: Daniel Dubois vs Razvan Cojanu (Heavyweight) – Brentwood Centre, Essex, UK
Rising British heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois will face former world title challenger Razvan Cojanu in a nice step up bout. The Romanian lost to two top-level operators in Joseph Parker and Luis Ortiz in his last two outings.
December 15: Canelo Alvarez vs Rocky Fielding (WBA ‘Regular’ Super-Middleweight Title) – MSG, New York
The most astonishing fight announcement of the year undoubtedly came when it was confirmed that Britain’s Rocky Fielding would face Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez. Fresh off his majority decision win over Gennady Golovkin, Canelo decided to return quickly and conquer a new weight class, though Fielding will attempt to defy the odds and prevent this. Tevin Farmer will defend his IBF super-featherweight title against Francisco Fonseca on the undercard, which also features David Lemieux in a middleweight contest.
December 22: Dillian Whyte vs Dereck Chisora II (Heavyweight) – O2 Arena, London, UK
In 2016, Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora clashed in more ways than one. The rival London heavyweights went to war outside of the ring, but made up for it by doing the same inside the ring and producing a compelling bout which Whyte won by split decision. Now, both coming off impressive wins in July, the pair will attempt to recreate their firefight of two years ago. Also on the bill, Charlie Edwards challenges Cristofer Rosales for the WBC flyweight title.
December 22: Josh Warrington vs Carl Frampton (IBF Featherweight Title) – Manchester Arena, Manchester, UK
For the first time in British boxing history, two major PPV shows will clash as Josh Warrington defends his featherweight belt in a cracking match-up with Carl Frampton on the same night as the Whyte vs Chisora rematch. Following his tremendous upset win over Lee Selby, the Leeds man will jump straight back into another big fight, putting his new title at stake against former world champion Frampton. Two interesting middleweight bouts are also on the show as Mark Heffron faces Liam Williams and Martin Murray meets Hassan N’Dam.
December 22: Jermall Charlo vs Willie Monroe Jr (Middleweight) – Barclays Center, New York
WBC ‘interim’ middleweight champion Jermall Charlo will co-headline this show with his twin brother – and WBC super-welterweight champion – Jermell Charlo. Jermall faces middleweight contender Willie Monroe Jr, while Jermell defends against Tony Harrison. Nordine Oubaali and Rau’shee Warren will likely face off for the vacant WBC bantamweight belt on the undercard.
December 30: Ken Shiro vs Saul Juarez (WBC Light-Flyweight Title) – Ota-City Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
This traditional Japanese New Year’s show will be a triple-header with Ken Shiro defending his WBC light-flyweight belt against Saul Juarez, Masayuki Ito defending his WBO super-featherweight belt against Evgeny Chuprakov and Takuma Inoue facing Petch Sor Chitpattana for the WBC ‘interim’ bantamweight strap.
December 31: Donnie Nietes vs Kazuto Ioka (WBO Super-Flyweight Title) – Wynn Palace, Macau, China
Filipino Donnie Nietes is already a three-weight world champion and was hard done by not to become a four-weight king earlier this year. Nietes drew with Aston Palicte in a bout for the vacant WBO super-flyweight belt, but will now get a second shot against Kazuto Ioka on this Macau NYE show. Also on the card, Hekkie Budler will defend his WBA light-flyweight title against Hiroto Kyoguchi.
December 31: Floyd Mayweather vs Tenshin Nasukawa – Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan
This bizarre bout is apparently back on again, though we’re still not 100 per cent sure of the rules, let alone the weight class or any other solidified information regarding the bout.
