James DeGale Faces Fulgencio Zuniga on Dec. 8

By Terence Dooley

London's James DeGale will meet Fulgencio Zuniga at Hull's Bonus Arena on December 8. The bout is scheduled over 12 rounds and the WBC's vacant Silver super middleweight title will be on the line. Zuniga, 25-6-1 (22), has only lost to the best: Daniel Santos, Kell Pavlik, Denis Inkin, Lucian Bute, Tavoris Cloud and Thomas Oosthuizen have all beaten him, but only Pavlik and Bute managed to stop the Colombian contender.

DeGale, 13-1 (9), had asked new promoter Mick Hennessey for activity and has been granted his wish, much to the 26-year-old's delight. “Zuniga is a big test for me as he’s only lost to world class opponents in Kelly Pavlik, Lucian Bute and Tavaros Cloud," said DeGale. "More recently he went 12 rounds with the unbeaten highly world ranked South African, Thomas Oosthuizen, so it shows he is world class and a dangerous opponent.”

Hennessy had a blast at Scotland's Kenny Anderson when announcing this fight, accusing the British super middleweight champion of agreeing terms only to pull out of what would have been a high profile bout.

He said: “After Kenny Anderson’s team agreeing all terms with us and then pulling out on the fight, I’m pleased and proud to say we’ve found a better world class opponent who has been very active."

Zuniga, though, is confident of victory and will not be fazed by the 2008 olympic gold medalist or the prospect of coming to the U.K. "I want to fight James DeGale because it gives me the opportunity to win against an Olympian gold medalist," said the 35-year-old. “I have fought the best in the world but Degale does not have my experience so I will win this fight. He has lost before and so he will lose again to me. I am a pressure fighter and I will fight him and pressure him in the ring until he gives up.”

Supporting James will be middleweight sensation Chris Eubank Jr and WBC International champion Kid Galahad.

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