Callum Smith is set to return to the scene of his greatest night.
The Liverpool light-heavyweight won the WBA Super and Ring Magazine titles down at super-middleweight in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in September 2018, dethroning George Groves and adding the belts to his WBC Diamond title in the final of the World Boxing Super Series.
Smith (28-1, 20 KOs) lost his world titles against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in December 2020, but he moved up to the 175-pound division last September, taking out Lenin Castillo in the second round of their clash in London.
The fight took place on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s defeat to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium.
And ‘Mundo’, 32, will be back on the undercard of the pair’s rematch, taking on Mathieu Bauderlique in a final eliminator for the WBC world title currently held by Artur Beterbiev.
Bauderlique is a southpaw from France and has a record of 21-1 (12 KOs). He was, until recently, the European champion at the weight, but gave up the crown in favour of securing a shot at global honours against the Scouse former world champion.
Filip Hrgovic meets China’s undefeated Zhilei Zhang (24-0-1, 19 KOs) in a final eliminator for Usyk’s IBF heavyweight crown after the fight was postponed back in May, having originally been set to take place on the undercard of Dmitry Bivol’s shock victory over the aforementioned Alvarez.
Ramla Ali (6-0, 1 KO) becomes the first female boxer to feature in an official international event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, clashing with Crystal Garcia Nova (10-2, 10 KOs) in an eight-round super-bantamweight contest, while Andrew Tabiti and Badou Jack box in respective heavyweight and cruiserweight contests and Daniel Lapin looks to improve on his 5-0 ledger.
Matchroom Boxing have now released the updated poster for the event:
Just added to the #UsykJoshua2#RageOnTheRedSea undercard 👊
🔘 #HrgovicZhang
🔘 #SmithBauderlique
🔘 #AliNova
🔘 #JackRivera
🔘 #TabitiSpongpic.twitter.com/18u4roGJTb— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) July 26, 2022