Michael Conlan (17-1) is on the road back to the stratosphere of the featherweight division, but Karim Guerfi (31-6) is the next man to try and stop that.
Conlan returns to the SSE Arena, a place which is always packed to the rafters in his presence. The Belfast man is firmly on his road to redemption following his sole career loss to Leigh Wood in March, where Conlan was stopped in the final round of one of the best fights of 2022.
Conlan returned to winning ways in August in front of his home crowd as he dominated the well-respected veteran Miguel Marriaga over ten rounds to remind featherweight contenders that he is on his road to redemption.
Guerfi also comes into this bout on a road to redemption. The Frenchman lost his European title to Jordan Gill in February. Guerfi was seemingly in control of Gill until the Brit found a huge right hand out of nowhere to stop Guerfi in an absolute thriller.
Guerfi returned to his home country and like Conlan, bounced straight back into a ten-rounder. Guerfi’s opponent would be Ricardo Mercado, and the Frenchman returned to winning ways with a wide points victory.
The undercard is littered with some of Ireland’s big names and rising prospects. The chief support sees Tyrone McKenna (23-3-1) challenge Liam Taylor (25-2-1) for the WBO European title. McKenna was involved in a barnburner with Chris Jenkins last time out and will be looking to continue the momentum at welterweight. Taylor picked up the belt last time out, as he defeated Martin Harkin by stoppage in round four in October.
The new IBO light heavyweight champion Padraig McCrory (15-0) fights for the first time since his dominant victory over Leon Bunn and will get a fantastic reception from the Irish crowd. Sean McComb (14-1) looks to pick up the vacant WBO European super lightweight title as he faces the undefeated Zsolt Osadan (23-0-1).
Graham McCormack (8-1) makes the first defence of his BUI Celtic middleweight title, as he will be challenged by the undefeated Feargus Quinn (4-0). The ever-exciting Lewis Crocker (14-0) returns and looks to close out 2022 with a victory.
Conor Quinn (3-0-1) continues his charge in the pro ranks as he takes on Stephen Jackson (1-28-1). Irelands highly touted prospects Paddy Donovan (9-0) and Paul Ryan (5-0) will also return to the ring in Belfast.
Finally, Tokyo 2021 Olympian Kurt Walker (4-0) and super welterweight prospect Kieran Molloy (3-0) look to continue their perfect starts in the pro game.
Conlan has a huge following in his country and will fight Guerfi in front of his loyal fans in Belfast. Across the water, Josh Warrington defends his IBF world featherweight title in Leeds against Luis Alberto Lopez, and we are sure Conlan will be keeping a keen eye as a potential future opponent.
In the UK, Conlan vs Guerfi can be watched live on FiteTv for £4.99, whilst in the US the bout will be live on ESPN+.