News reached The Ring that heavyweight contender Arslanbek Makhmudov will return to action against an as yet unknown opponent at the Centre Gervais Auto in Shawinigan, Canada, on December 16.

Makhmudov will headline an Eye of the Tiger event on ESPN+ in the U.S. and the card will also be broadcast live on punchinggrace.com.

The 33-year-old Makhmudov was the Russian national champion in his age group (19-22) in 2010 and the No. 1-rated super heavyweight in the World Series of Boxing in 2014-2015.

Since turning professional in 2017, Makhmudov has stopped 10 opponents in the opening round and he has a formidable reputation as a result. The big Russian owns a win over former WBC heavyweight titleholder Samuel Peter (TKO 1), as well as solid victories over former title challengers Mariusz Wach (KO 6) and Carlos Takam (UD 10). The September win over Takam took Makhmudov’s record to 15-0 (14 KOs).

Makhmudov will be joined on the card by hard-hitting heavyweight Simon Kean, middleweight contender Steven Butler, and junior middleweight star Mary Spencer.

Kean is coming off a bizarre fight, in September, which saw opponent Newfel Ouatah take a knee at the opening bell and refuse to compete.

A week later, Butler continued to rebuild his career by scoring a highly impressive second-round stoppage over Mark DeLuca in an NABF title defense.

Spencer will be having her sixth fight of a busy year and is looking to force a world title opportunity in early 2023.

Their opponents will be announced in due course.

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