Aaron McKenna to defend IBF middleweight title vs Jevgenijs Aleksejevs on Dec. 4 in Riyadh

IBF middleweight champion Aaron McKenna will make the first defence of his title against Jevgenijs Aleksejevs in the main event of Riyadh Season Zuffa Boxing 14 on Friday, December 4, at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Ring announced the fight on X on Saturday, November 14, at about 17:25 UTC, and Sky Sports published its own report at 17:12 UK time.

\"Announced: Aaron McKenna will defend his IBF middleweight title against Jevgenijs Aleksejevs in the main event of Riyadh Season Zuffa Boxing 14 on December 4th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,\" The Ring's verified account wrote. The post added that Jack Massey vs Andrew Tabiti and Zak Chelli vs Jesse Hart are set for the card.

What has been confirmed

• Main event: Aaron McKenna (IBF middleweight champion) vs Jevgenijs Aleksejevs, middleweight title fight.
• Jack Massey vs Andrew Tabiti, cruiserweight, per Sky Sports.
• Zak Chelli vs Jesse Hart, light heavyweight, which is Chelli's first Zuffa Boxing bout, per Sky Sports.
• Ryan Rozicki vs Gaetan Ntambwe, per Sky Sports.
• Alex MacMillan returns in a six-round welterweight bout against an opponent to be named, per Sky Sports.
• Preliminary bouts: Charles Martin vs Vladyslav Sirenko, Jamar Talley vs Sherif Musah, and Raheem Animashaun in a six-round welterweight bout, per Sky Sports.
• Date and venue: Friday, December 4, The Venue, Riyadh.
• Broadcast: live on Sky Sports in the UK, per Sky Sports.

The title fight

McKenna, 21-0 (10 KOs) from Monaghan, Ireland, won the IBF belt in August by beating Etinosa Oliha at the 3Arena in Dublin. Sky Sports describes the win as one-sided. This will be his first defence. He had earlier gained a title-contention spot with an April 2025 decision over former world champion Liam Smith.

Aleksejevs is a Latvian and a former kickboxing standout. Sky Sports calls him unbeaten, a world-ranked contender with 10 stoppage wins among his 20 pro victories. It will be his first world title challenge. He won a regional title last October with a unanimous decision over Przemyslaw Zysk and beat Italy's Damiano Falcinelli over 10 rounds in February.

Undercard

Massey, 23-4 (13), is a former European champion and world title challenger. He is coming off a seventh-round stoppage loss to Chev Clarke on the Zuffa Boxing 07 card in June, a fight in which he had Clarke down twice in round four. Tabiti of the United States, who fought Yuniel Dorticos for a world title, has been boxing at heavyweight and now returns to cruiserweight, according to Sky Sports.

Chelli, a London light-heavyweight and a new Zuffa Boxing signing, is coming off an upset knockout win over David Morrell. Hart, son of Philadelphia contender Eugene \"Cyclone\" Hart, has twice challenged Gilberto Ramirez for the WBO super-middleweight title and is coming off a controversial decision loss to Khalil Coe.

Rozicki, who fought Chris Billam-Smith, meets France's Gaetan Ntambwe (12-2), a two-division French champion who has not been stopped as a pro. In the preliminary bouts, former heavyweight titleholder Charles Martin faces Ukraine's Vladyslav Sirenko (23-1, 20 KOs), who recently knocked out Otto Wallin. Jamar Talley (7-0, 6 KOs) fights Britain's Sherif Musah, and Raheem Animashaun (20-0, 12 KOs) boxes at welterweight over six rounds.

Start times and US broadcast details for Zuffa Boxing 14 were not included in the announcement or in the Sky Sports report.