Hosea Burton will defend his British Light-Heavyweight title against Frank Buglioni at the Manchester Arena on December 10.
Burton landed the crown with an impressive sixth round stoppage win over Miles Shinkwin at the same venue in February but two scheduled defences were cancelled through injuries to his opponents.
Burton was set to meet Tony Dodson at Goodison Park in Liverpool in May but Dodson snapped his Achilles, then Buglioni was slated to meet Burton in September but the Londoner pulled out of their Manchester meeting after sustaining a cut in sparring. Burton boxed on both occasions, with a third round stoppage over Fernando Castaneda a ninth win inside the distance in 18 pro outings.
Former World Super-Middleweight title challenger Buglioni fights for the British strap for the first time in his career, but unbeaten champ Burton
“Frank is a good lad but this is business and I want to go forward so I need to beat him,” said Burton. “This is my division, my weight and I am the man in the Light-Heavyweight division – I’ll show that on December 10.
“I was frustrated that he pulled out of the last one with four weeks to go with a tiny nick over his eye. It was hard to stay motivated for the last fight but I had too good a training camp to mess it up so I stayed focused and got another stoppage win.”
Burton’s clash with Buglioni is part of a blockbuster night of action in Manchester as Anthony Joshua MBE defends his IBF World Heavyweight title for the second time and Kal Yafai aims to become Birmingham’s first World champion as he challenges WBA Super-Flyweight champion Luis Concepcion.
Further details on the card and tickets will be released soon.
IN OTHER NEWS: Philadelphia, PA./Corona CA. - World ranked lightweight contender Xolisani Ndongeni and highly regarded featherweight prospect Ruben Villa will headline a terrific undercard on Friday night, November 4th at the Omega Products International Events Center in Corona, California.
Ndongeni of East Cape, South Africa has a record of 21-0 with 11 knockouts and is ranked number-2 by the WBA.
The 26 year-old will be making his American debut against Juan Garcia Mendez (19-1-1, 12 KO's) of Mexicali, Mexico in a bout scheduled for ten-rounds.
Ndongeni turned professional in 2010 and is the IBO Lightweight champion and former South African Super Featherweight & Lightweight champion. Among his 21 wins is a win over former world champion Mzonke Fana. In his last bout, Ndongeni scored a 1st round stoppage over Emilio Norfat on April 22nd in East London, South Africa.
Ndongeni is promoted is Rodney Berman's Golden Gloves Promotions.
Mendez, 24 years-old, is a 7 year professional, and is on a five-fight winning streak. In his last bout, Mendez stopped Roman Mendez in 1 round on May 29, 2015 in Mexicali, Mexico.
Villa of Salinas, California has a record of 2-0 with 2 1st-round knockouts.
The 19 year-old was a two-time National Golden Glove Champion, 2-time Jr. Olympics Champion, and 2015 Olympic Trials runner-up, and he holds two victories over 2016 Olympic silver medal winner Shakur Stevenson.
He turned professional on July 29th with a 1st round stoppage over Gerardo Molina. Villa followed that up with a first round stoppage over Jose Mora on September 23rd in Ontario, California.
Villa's opponent in the scheduled four-round bout will be announced shortly.
In a 4-round super flyweight bout, Danny Andujo (2-0, 1 KO) of Temcula, California will battle Joel Cano (0-3) of Ciudad, Mexico.
Jonathan Esquivel of Anaheim, California will make his pro debut against an opponent to be named in a middleweight bout.
Tickets for the event promoted by Banner Promotions & Thompson, are priced at $100 (ringside), $70 (reserved) and $50 (general admission) and can be purchased by calling (714) 935-0900.
Undefeated 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist Taras "Real Deal" Shelestyuk (14-0, 9 KOs) will face upset-minded Jaime Herrera in the 10-round welterweight main event of a ShoBox: The New Generation tripleheader on, live on SHOWTIME at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
In the co-feature, undefeated cruiserweights Constantin Bejenaru (11-0, 4 KOs, 0-1-1 in World Series of Boxing), of Catskill, NY by way of Moldova, and Stivens "Superman" Bujaj (16-0-1, 11 KOs), of New York, will collide in a 10-rounder for the vacant WBC International and WBC Continental Americas titles.
In the opening bout of the telecast, undefeated lightweight Vitor Jones Freitas (12-0, 1 ND, 6 KOs), of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, will be opposed by local fan favorite Manuel Mendez (12-1-2, 8 KOs), of Indio, CA, in an 8-round bout. The 23-year-old Freitas is the nephew of popular former four-time world champion Acelino "Popo" Freitas.
