Azim (15-0, 12 KOs) and Valenzuela (32-5-1, 18 KOs) will clash at Copper Box Arena in London on December 4. The 12-round junior welterweight fight will be streamed by DAZN.

The IBF 140-pound title has laid vacant since Richardson Hitchins relinquished the belt in April.

Azim sits at No. 4 in the IBF rankings while Valenzuela is positioned at No. 6. The winner will set themselves up perfectly for a shot at the title at some point in 2027.

The fight will be Azim’s first since he impressively dismantled Canada’s Steve Claggett inside three rounds on May 30. The 24-year-old from Slough respects Valenzuela but is confident of making another eye-catching statement.

“He's a great fighter,” Azim, ranked No. 5 at 140 pounds by The Ring, said at Thursday's press conference. He's got these long levers. He can punch as well. He's a world class fighter but I know for sure that I could beat him quite easy. The way I'm training, the way I'm sparring, I've got the best trainer [Shane McGuigan] in the world and nothing can stop me.”

Valenzuela will certainly try.

Over the past 18 months the battle-hardened 32-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico has been beaten by two-time 140-pound champion Subriel Matias and IBF No. 1 Lindolfo Delgado, but gave a good account of himself on both occasions.

In March 2025 he went to war with the big punching Matias but was stopped in the eighth round. The following November he lost a controversial 12-round split decision to Delgado despite scoring a final round knockdown.

Although he wasn’t at Wednesday’s press conference, Valenzuela issued a statement saying that although Azim is “a talented young fighter with a bright future” he hasn’t faced anybody like him before.

The warning washed right over Azim.

“Every single opponent has said that,” Azim said.

“I don't really care because I had Kurt Scoby saying he was going to break me but I broke him in every [one of the] 12 rounds and stopped him. Claggett said he was going to beat me. He got aggressive against me but I stopped him in three and Teofimo [Lopez] couldn't do that.

“So, I’ve got a lot of respect for Gabriel Valenzuela but I'm going to put on a show on December 4.”