By Mark Vester

WBC super featherweight champion Humberto Soto (49-7-2, 32 KOs) makes the jump to lightweight on December 19 when he challenges two-time champion Jesus Chavez (44-6, 30 KOs) at la Arena del ITSON in Mexico. Soto hopes that a win over Chavez will lead to a showdown with WBC champion Edwin Valero in 2010. The fight will be packaged on Top Rank split-feed pay-per-view. The main event will come from Ohio, with Kelly Pavlik defending his middleweight titles against Miguel Espino.

"Jesus Chavez is a very dangerous opponent who can fight and is alos a two-time world champion. We have to take this fight very seriously and not take it easy, and make sure that put on a great show in the ring," Soto said.

Also on the card, Alejandro Valdez (21-3, 15KOs) will challenge WBA-interim lightweight champion Nehomar Cermeno (18-0, 10KOs). Cermeno owns two wins over Cristian Mijares. Former champion Jose Luis Castillo (60-9-1, 52 KOs) will appear on the card, and undefeated Hernan "Tyson" Marquez (25-0, 19 KOs) will see action.

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