Joshua Buatsi will face former world title challenger Maxim Vlasov on the undercard of Joseph Parker’s rematch with Derek Chisora at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday December 18, live worldwide on DAZN (except New Zealand and Samoa).
Buatsi (15-0, 13 KOs) scored his tenth knockout in a row when he stopped Latvia’s Ricards Bolotniks in the eleventh round of their WBA light-heavyweight title eliminator on the third and final week of Matchroom Fight Camp in August.
That win followed on from his brutal fourth-round stoppage of undefeated Frenchman Daniel Blenda Dos Santos in May and the 28-year-old contender returns to the famous arena next month to take on his toughest challenge yet in the professional ranks.
Russia’s Vlasov (45-4, 26 KOs) dropped a controversial twelve-round majority decision to the USA’s Joe Smith in a challenge for the vacant WBO title earlier this year and he is determined to bounce back by becoming the first man to defeat Buatsi.
Also on the card, undefeated New Malden super-middleweight talent Lerrone Richards (15-0, 3 KOs) looks to build on his impressive EBU European title win against Giovanni De Carolis in May when he takes on unbeaten IBO 168lbs champ Carlos Gongora (20-0, 15 KOs).
Gongora created history by becoming Ecuador’s first ever world titleholder of any description when he scored a spectacular twelfth-round knockout win over Kazakhstan’s Ali Akhmedov last December before stopping Christopher Pearson in his maiden defence of the title on the Andrade vs. Williams undercard.
‘Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver’ Jack Cullen (20-2-1, 9 KOs) returns to the scene of his 'Fight of the Year' contender with Felix Cash back in 2019 as he clashes with Germany’s Emre Cukur (17-1, 3 KOs) for the vacant EBU European super-middleweight crown following his win over Avni Yildirim in July.
Manchester super-featherweight contender Zelfa Barrett (26-1, 16 KOs) hopes to make it three wins from three fights in 2021 as he meets Australia’s Bruno ‘The Terminator’ Tarimo (26-2-2, 5 KOs) in a final eliminator for the IBF championship.
Meanwhile super-lightweight prospect Sandy Ryan (2-0, 1 KO) is out to impress again after her vicious body shot knockout win over Aleksandra Vujovic last month in Italy, unbeaten cruiserweight Jordan ‘Troublesome’ Thompson (11-0, 9 KOs) looks for another big KO in his home city, New Zealand cruiserweight David Nyika (1-0, 1 KO) fights in the UK for the first time and Anthony Crolla-trained lightweight Rhiannon Dixon (3-0) returns to action.