Watch all the action live on Sky Sports from 7pm this Saturday
Saturday 24 November 2018 18:52, UK
Kal Yafai and Denis Lebedev are in world-title action, while Frank Buglioni and heavyweights Alexander Ustinov and Michael Hunter also star on a night of international glitz and glamour in Monte Carlo on Saturday.
Birmingham's Kal Yafai (24-0) is back in action, six months on from an emphatic victory over David Carmona, and once again he takes on a Mexican challenge, this time in the shape of Israel Gonzalez (23-2). Having shone in the States in May, Yafai heads to the Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monaco, live on Sky Sports, looking to make the fourth defence of his WBA super-flyweight crown.
Yafai has fellow champions Jerwin Ancajas (IBF) and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (WBC) in his sights, while Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez, Donnie Nietes and Kazuto Ioka are also viable future opponents. With huge unification plans for 2019, the unbeaten Brit can ill-afford a slip-up on Saturday night.
Russian warhorse Denis Lebedev (31-2) has somewhat become the forgotten man of the cruiserweight division, two years on from a closely-fought and gutsy split-decision defeat to Murat Gassiev. In that time Oleksandr Usyk has blasted his way to become the undisputed king, following up his starring World Boxing Super Series win with an emphatic stoppage of Tony Bellew earlier this month.
With Usyk now seemingly set to move up in weight, the 200lbs ranks has become wide open, 39-year old southpaw Lebedev, on a run of two routine wins, hoping it is he that can rocket to No 1. Unbeaten American Mike Wilson (19-0) is the man standing in his way as Lebedev again battles for a version of the WBA world title.
Having started 2018 with a devastating first-round loss to Callum Johnson, Frank Buglioni can quickly reverse his fortunes to see the year out, up against China's undefeated light-heavyweight Fanlong Meng.
The IBF Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title is on the line as Meng (13-0) fights in Europe for the first time in his career. 'Wise Guy' Buglioni, a former world-title challenger, will hope experience plays a part against the Chinese southpaw as he looks to join the world-level mix.
After dismantling highly-rated prospect Martin Bakole, Michael Hunter quickly looks to extend his impressive four-fight win streak, jumping in as a late replacement to take on experienced Belorussian Alexander Ustinov.
The Californian native has just a points defeat to Usyk as the sole blemish on his record but, now competing at heavyweight, will 41-year old 'Alexander The Great' prove a sizeable step too far?
Brooklyn, Bethnal Green, Cardiff, Boston and now Monte Carlo, the Kazakh Thunder has rolled into all sorts of destinations in his pro career already.
It is four wins out of four so far for Daniyar Yeleussinov and he must keep that run going this weekend against an opponent in Marcos Mojica who has 16 wins on his record and just two defeats.
The Monte-Carlo Boxing Bonanza will be live on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm and Main Event from 8pm on Saturday, but you can also find out what happens via our live blog on skysports.com, the Sky Sports mobile app and @SkySportsBoxing on Twitter.
Watch a huge night of action in Monaco with Yafai vs Gonzalez, Lebedev vs Wilson and Meng vs Buglioni live on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm and Main Event from 7.45pm this Saturday.
