Frank Warren has announced that two of his biggest draws will be returning on the same card on December 9th. IBF titleholders in super middleweight James DeGale and featherweight Lee Selby will both be making defenses in London that night. This will be a big night of boxing in England.
Neither DeGale nor Selby have opponents announced yet. Former Olympic gold medalist James DeGale (23-1-1, 14 KOs) has not fought since his closely contested January draw with Badou Jack while Lee Selby (25-1, 9 KOs) cruised to easy victory in July over Jonathan Victor Barros. Top Frank Warren prospects Anthony Yarde (13-0, 12 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (5-0, 5 KOs) will also compete.
As for speculating about opponents, it is hard to say. Rocky Fielding is ranked in the top five by the IBF. That fight would sell for sure, but it would also be pretty one sided. Honestly, that is what I am expecting here in terms of matchups. If Warren was going to secure top opponents, they would be part of the announcement. Instead he is likely hoping that having the two major British names on one bill will make up with their weak opposition. DeGale versus Fielding would be a very sensible main event in that regard.
I think we can safely rule out Josh Warrington for Lee Selby here as well. That is not a co-main event in the UK. There are some serious duds in the IBF featherweight rankings so take your pick there for an optional defense. It won’t be against another top fighter, but that is basically a given with Selby at this point.
The Copper Box Arena in London will host the December 9th event. BT Sport and Box Nation will televise in the UK. There is little chance of US television for this one.
