Unbeaten world champion Beatriz Ferreira is set for her first title defense against Licia Boudersa on December 14. The 10-round bout serves as the co-feature to Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs Ricardo Espinoza. The event titled “Monte-Carlo Showdown V” airs live on DAZN.
Ferreira (5-0, 2 KOs) of Brazil brings to the ring her IBF lightweight belt. The 31-year-old landed the strap via technical decision against Yanina del Carmen Lescano in Liverpool, England in April. The fight was stopped in the sixth-round after the latter suffered a cut caused by an accidental clash of heads in Round 5.
Boudersa (23-2-2, 4 KOs) is fresh off the win by unanimous decision against Marina Sakharov in October. In May, the 32-year-old defeated Karina Szmalenberg by points and returned to winning ways. The French contender makes her first attempt to lift one of four major belts.
“I’m very excited to be back in the ring and making the first defence of my world title in Monte-Carlo,” Beatriz Ferreira said. “I am very proud to have finished my Olympic journey as a two-time medallist but from now on my focus is 100% on the professionals and I am excited about this next phase in my career and dedicating myself fully to professional boxing.”
“My opponent is very experienced and has won many titles in the past, so I’m looking forward to the challenge and then I hope to move into big unification fights and add more world titles in 2025.”
Also confirmed for the Akhmadaliev vs Espinoza undercard, a cruiserweight bout between Cheavon Clarke and Leonardo Mosquea. The pair battles it out for the vacant European title.
British-Jamaican Clarke (10-0, 7 KOs) makes his fourth ring appearance for the year. The 33-year-old southpaw took a majority decision against Efetobor Apochi in August. Prior to that, he stopped Ellis Zorro and Tommy McCarthy in the eighth-round in May and the fourth round in January, respectively.
France-based Mosquea (15-0, 9 KOs) of the Dominican Republic goes through the ropes for the third time in 2024. The 30-year-old defeated Dylan Bregeon and Sadok Sebki by unanimous decision in June and March, respectively.
In addition, Gary Cully defends his WBA Continental lightweight title against Maxi Hughes. Ireland’s 28-year-old southpaw Cully (18-1, 10 KOs) defeated Francesco Patera by unanimous decision last time out in May. British 34-year-old southpaw Hughes (27-7-2, 6 KO) TKO’d Efstathios Antonas in the sixth-round in September and rebounded from a pair of defeats against William Zepeda and George Kambosos Jr.
In the main event, Indio, California-based former unified champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KOs) of Uzbekistan faces Ricardo Espinoza Franco (30-4, 25 KOs) of Mexico. The pair goes head-to-head for the interim WBA super bantamweight title.