Artem Dalakian To Defend WBA Flyweight World Title On December 15
Artem Dalakian is getting one more title defense before 2018 ends.
Dalakian will defend his WBA flyweight title for the second time this year and will fight Gregorio Lebron on December 15. The fight will take place at the Parkovy Convention Centre in Kiev, Ukraine, marking the second time Dalakian fights a world title in Kiev.
The 31-year-old Dalakian has been one of the sport’s top flyweights and had a breakout 2018. Dalakian won the vacant title as part of the “SuperFly 2” card back in February when he won a wide unanimous decision victory over former world champion Brian Viloria. Dalakian would then return to his native country of Ukraine to score a TKO victory over 53-fight veteran Sirichai Thaiyen in the eighth round of their bout. Dalakian’s big year has him sitting comfortably at No. 2 on Fightful’s Boxing Rankings at 112 pounds.
Lebron is a 36-year-old fighter competing out of the Dominican Republic and sports a 21-4 record as a pro. This will be Lebron’s first crack at a full world title after unsuccessfully losing two straight interim WBA flyweight title fights in 2015 and 2016. Since then, Lebron, the No. 3 flyweight in the WBA rankings, has managed to win his last eight fights with five of those wins coming from inside the distance.
The undercard will also feature a number of local fighters, including Vladisav Sirenko facing off against journeyman Manuel Alberto Pucheta in a six-round heavyweight bout as well as unbeaten super middleweight Igor Kudrytskiy facing off against 47-fight pro Farouk Daku.
