The last time Fedor Chudinov fought a Frenchman, it almost cost him a victory.

A year and a half ago, the former Super WBA super middleweight champion was extremely lucky (showing it in a confused face expression afterwards) to get a borderline robbery decision over Nadjib Mohammedi on the undercard of the WBSS Season 1 Finale between Murat Gassiev and Olexander Usyk. Chudinov escaped with a split decision by way of extremely differing scorecards (116-112 and 115-113 – for the Russian, 118-111 – for the Frenchman).

In 2019, however, it got better for the Russian, who scored three consecutive stoppages, culminating in the tenth-round kayo of experienced Argentinean Ezequiel Oswaldo Maderna.

Enter in the other Frenchman (of Cameroonian origin) – former WBA middleweight champion Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, who is coming off a one-sided stoppage loss to the Super WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith in June.

Chudinov (21-2, 15 KOs) is ranked #1 by the WBA, and he is also listed #6 by the WBA and IBF, as well as #11 by the WBO. He views this fight as a final step into the title contention – probably versus Smith – if successful against unrated N’Jikam (37-4, 21 KOs), who represented Cameroon in both Athens 2004 and Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.

The fight will crown a night of boxing in Vladikavkaz, the hometown of Gassiev, on Friday, December the 13th. Chudinov is presently trained by Vitaliy Slanov, who honed the skills of Gassiev and guides a number of local prospects, who will be featured in the undercard (the most accomplished being 20-year old Alan Khugaev with a record of 9-0, 4 KOs). The card will also see a pro debut of a decorated amateur boxer Khariton Agrba.