Former super middleweight world titlist Jose Uzcategui will take on Lionell Thompson in a fight that was added Wednesday to the televised undercard of Gervonta "Tank" Davis' vacant lightweight title bout with Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Uzcategui will face Thompson in a 10-round bout that will open the "Showtime Championship Boxing" telecast Dec. 28 (9 p.m. ET) that has been expanded to a tripleheader at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, the network and Premier Boxing Champions announced.
"Everyone will see the real 'Bolivita' on Dec. 28 in Atlanta," Uzcategui said. "I'm very excited for this fight announcement and I'm thankful to everyone involved in making this happen. I'm going to be 100 percent ready for anything that my opponent brings and show the best version of myself. I'm ready to finish this year on a high and positive note with a win against Thompson."
Uzcategui's 2019 began on a down note. On Jan. 13, he was knocked down twice and lost his 168-pound world title by unanimous decision to Caleb Plant in Los Angeles.
Uzcategui (29-3, 24 KOs), 28, a Venezuela native fighting out of Tijuana, Mexico, has fought once since, knocking out Roberto Valdez in the first round on Sept. 21 in Tijuana.
Thompson (21-5, 12 KOs), 34, a Buffalo, New York, native living in Las Vegas, has won two fights in a row, most recently stopping Scott Sigmon in the seventh round on Sept. 20. He has also fought top opponents such as Sergey Kovalev, Edwin Rodriguez and "Hot Rod" Radivoje Kalajdzic and lost. Those fights were all at light heavyweight, and now he is moving down in weight to super middleweight.
"This is a huge opportunity for me and I'm thankful my team got me this fight," Thompson said. "Some people told me I'm too small for light heavyweight, so I made the decision to come down to 168. The only real fight I see is to make weight the right way.
"They say he's a big puncher, but I can punch too. I've hung in there with the best of the best again and again. It's the guys who come to fight that really bring the best out of me, so if he comes to fight, this will be a great fight for the fans."
In the co-feature, secondary light heavyweight titlist Jean Pascal defends his belt against former two-division titlist Badou Jack.