Adam Azim vs. Gabriel Valenzuela Set for Dec. 4 in IBF 140-Pound Eliminator at the Copper Box

Adam Azim has been knocking on the door at 140 pounds for a while. On Dec. 4, he gets to knock on the IBF's.

Azim will face Mexico's Gabriel "Gollaz" Valenzuela at London's Copper Box Arena in a 12-round IBF junior welterweight title eliminator, the main event of a Boxxer-promoted show, per The Ring. DAZN will carry it live everywhere except the UK and Ireland.

The matchup

Azim (15-0, 12 KOs) is ranked No. 4 by the IBF. Valenzuela (32-5-1, 18 KOs) is No. 6. The unbeaten former European champion has won his last six fights by knockout, most recently a third-round stoppage of Steve Claggett at Wembley Arena on May 30. Before that came inside-the-distance wins over Kurt Scoby, Sergey Lipinets, Ohara Davies, Enock Poulsen and Franck Petitjean, The Ring says.

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Valenzuela, 32, has been here before and come up short. He lost IBF title eliminators to Subriel Matias and Lindolfo Delgado in 2025, then got back in the win column by stopping Rogelio Laguna in May. The winner is expected to fight for the vacant belt in the first half of 2027.

Why the belt is open

The IBF title is vacant after Richardson Hitchins moved up to welterweight after signing with Zuffa Boxing, per BBC Sport. Delgado and Arthur Biyarslanov were supposed to settle it on the Canelo-Mbilli card in Riyadh, but that fight was pulled during fight week after Delgado withdrew, and there's no word on a new date. We covered the fallout in Biyarslanov Heads Home to Chechnya.

The Kimster's read: this is the fight Azim needed. Valenzuela is no knockout tune-up. He's a two-time eliminator loser who keeps getting back into these spots. Beat him, and Azim is one fight from a belt and one big night from the domestic money fight everyone wants against WBC champ Dalton Smith.

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