Aaron McKenna to defend IBF title against Jevgenijs Aleksejevs in Riyadh
Zuffa BoxingAaron McKenna will make the first defense of his IBF middleweight title against unbeaten Latvian Jevgenijs Aleksejevs on December 4 at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
McKenna, 21-0 (10 KOs), won the vacant title in August when he outpointed Etinosa Oliha at Dublin's 3Arena. The victory followed his decision win over former WBO junior middleweight titlist Liam Smith in April 2025.
Aleksejevs, 20-0 (10 KOs), is a former kickboxer who has yet to lose as a professional boxer. He won a regional title with a unanimous decision over Przemyslaw Zysk last October before outpointing Damiano Falcinelli over 10 rounds in February.
The bout will headline a Zuffa Boxing card that also features a cruiserweight contest between Jack Massey and Andrew Tabiti.
Massey, 23-4 (13 KOs), is looking to rebound from a seventh-round stoppage defeat to Chev Clarke in June, having dropped Clarke twice in the fourth round. Tabiti, 22-2 (18 KOs), a former cruiserweight title challenger, returns to the division after campaigning at heavyweight.
At light heavyweight, Zak Chelli, 17-3-1 (9 KOs), will face Jesse Hart, 31-4 (25 KOs). Chelli is coming off a shocking knockout victory over David Morrell, while Hart, a former two-time super middleweight title challenger, was last seen losing a decision to Khalil Coe.
Cruiserweights Ryan Rozicki, 21-2-1 (20 KOs), and Gaetan NTambwe, 12-2 (1 KO), will also meet over 10 rounds. Rozicki is seeking his first victory since his defeat to Chris Billam-Smith in June.
The undercard includes a heavyweight bout between Vladyslav Sirenko, 23-1 (20 KOs), and former champion Charles Martin, 30-5-1 (27 KOs). Sirenko stopped Otto Wallin in July.
Unbeaten cruiserweight Jamar Talley, 7-0 (6 KOs), will face Sherif Musah, 4-3-2 (2 KOs), while welterweights Alex MacMillan, 5-0 (4 KOs), and Raheem Animashaun, 20-0 (12 KOs), are scheduled for separate six-round bouts against opponents yet to be announced.
The event will be broadcast on Paramount+ in the United States and Canada, and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
- Jesse Hart
- Liam Smith
- Otto Wallin
- Charles Martin
- Andrew Tabiti
- Jack Massey
- Aaron McKenna
- Zak Chelli
- David Morrell
- Chris Billam-Smith
- Przemyslaw Zysk
- Khalil Coe
- Ryan Rozicki
- Etinosa Oliha
- Jevgenijs Aleksejevs
- Zuffa Boxing
Matt Christie, a lifelong fight fan, has worked in boxing for more than 20 years. He left Boxing News in 2024 after 14 years, nine of which were spent as editor-in-chief. Before that, he was the producer of weekly boxing show “KOTV.” Now the co-host of “The Opening Bell” podcast and regularly used in the UK as a pundit, Matt was named as the Specialist Correspondent of the Year at the prestigious Sports Journalism Awards in 2021, which was the seventh SJA Award he accepted during his stint in the hot seat at Boxing News. The following year, he was inducted into the British Boxing Hall of Fame. He is a member of the BWAA and has been honored several times in their annual writing awards.
