By Francisco Salazar

Kiko Martinez will defend his IBF super bantamweight title against Jeffrey Mathebula on December 21st, according to Sergio Martinez.

The linear middleweight champion manages Kiko Martinez and made the announcement on his twitter page Tuesday morning.

No word on the exact location, but Martinez announced that the fight will take place in Spain.

Kiko Martinez (29-4, 21 KOs) won the world title from Jhonatan Romero on August 17th in Atlantic City, NJ, stopping him in the sixth round. He has won nine of his last 10 bouts, with the technical knockout loss to Carl Frampton on February 9th being the only blemish.

Mathebula (27-4-2, 14 KOs) is familiar to fight fans in the United States because of his 5'11" frame (tall for a super bantamweight) and for his 12 round unanimous decision loss to Nonito Donaire last July 7th in Carson, CA.

In his last fight on March 23rd, the South African fighter won a 12 round unanimous decision over Takalani Ndlovu.

The card on which Martinez-Mathebula will appear on will be promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz and Gary Shaw.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since last September and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper and Knockout Nation. He could be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on twitter at FSalazarBoxing