The unbeaten Callum Smith will defend his British super middleweight title against mandatory challenger Luke Blackledge at the Manchester Arena on Dec. 10.

Smith, who is rated No. 6 by THE RING at 168 pounds, is looking to make a successful first defense of the Lonsdale belt he won convincingly by halting Rocky Fielding in one round last November.

All going to plan, the 26-year-old boxer-puncher will then target the winner of James DeGale and Badou Jack, who clash for THE RING, IBF and WBC super middleweight titles in Brooklyn on Jan. 14.

“Luke is a good fighter; he comes to win, he’s game and durable and it promises to be a cracking fight,” said Smith, who is the WBC mandatory challanger. “I’m proud to be British champion and I’ll defend it until I can get a fight for a world title.

“It was good to see James and Badou finally get their fight signed. I was in Washington in April when they both defended their titles and agreed to meet in a unification (but) I didn’t think it would take this long for the fight to happen.

Smith continued, “I didn’t think I’d have three fights before getting my chance to fight for the world title but they’re ready and while it’s been a bit frustrating, I’ve been active and learning all the time. It’s exciting that I will be fighting for a world title next year.

“It’s a win-win for me. If Jack wins it’ll probably be in Vegas and that’s every fighter’s dream to fight for a world title in Vegas. If James wins, which I think he will, then that’s a massive domestic fight and we’ve seen that the British fans love those events.”

Smith versus Blackledge takes place on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s IBF heavyweight title defense against Eric Molina. Also on the show, Kal Yafai challenges Luis Concepcion for the IBF junior bantamweight title, Hosea Burton defends his British light heavyweight title against Frank Buglioni, Dillian Whyte meets Dereck Chisora at heavyweight, Scott Quigg and Luis Ortiz return to action and Katie Taylor makes her second appearance as a professional.

Information provided courtesy of a press release issued by Matchroom Boxing

Limited tickets remain from the Manchester Arena Tel: 0844 847 8000. VIP tickets are £800 and available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing. Face value tickets for Dec. 10 are also be available from StubHub. StubHub is the official ticket partner and marketplace of Matchroom Boxing and Anthony Joshua.

Tom Gray is a UK Correspondent/ Editor for RingTV.com and a member of THE RING ratings panel. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing

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