Dmitry Bivol, who is ranked No. 2 by The Ring at 175 pounds, will face once-beaten Umar Salamov on December 11, it was announced Tuesday.

The 12-round bout will take place at the KRK ‘Uralets’ in Ekaterinburg, Russia and will take place on the same Titov/ RCC Boxing Promotions card as the junior middleweight clash between former WBO titleholder Patrick Teixeira and unbeaten Magomed Kurbanov.

Bivol (18-0, 11 knockouts), who is originally from Kyrgyzstan and now resides in Saint Petersburg, Russia, last fought on May 1, defeating Craig Richards by unanimous decision in a fight that was closer than expected. The victory over Richards was Bivol’s sixth successful defense of the WBA world title.

The 30-year-old did not fight in 2020. He notched decision victories over Joe Smith, Jr. and Lenin Castillo, respectively, in 2019.

Gilberto Ramirez has recently called out Bivol in what would be an intriguing clash of unbeaten fighters. The southpaw Ramirez will face Yunieski Gonzalez in a world title elimination bout for the right to challenger Bivol.

Bivol is managed by Vadim Kornilov and is co-promoted by World of Boxing. He has fought on a handful of DAZN cards over the last couple of years.

Salamov (26-1, 19 KOs), who lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nevada, defeated Sergei Ekimov by split-decision in his last bout on April 8. Four of his last five bouts have taken place in his hometown of Grozny, Russia.

The 27-year-old has won his last seven bouts since losing his only bout as a pro to Australia’s Damien Hooper in July 2017.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing