By Ryan Burton

On December 22nd former two-division champion Rances Barthelemy will return to action for the first time since his decision March loss to Kiryl Relikh. That fight was a rematch of their 2017 fight that Relikh won via split decision.

The 32-year-old Las Vegas resident as of this writing doesn’t have an opponent. His bout will take place on the Jermall Charlo-Willie Monroe undercard at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

He said that he was supposed to face Daulis Prescott but that fight fell through.

"I was supposed to face a Colombian. It was supposed to be against Breidis Prescott's brother but that didn't workout but they will definitely have an opponent for me," said Barthelemy.

The former Cuban amateur standout said that he has made a lot of changes since suffering back-to-back losses which were the first defeats of his career.

"A lot of things went wrong for that fight.  I think a big problem was my trainer wasn't there the whole time.  He was there part of the time but there were other things that we didn't do right and I have turned the page," Barthelemy said in reference to renown trainer Ismael Salas who spent a lot of time in the United Kingdom preparing Davis Haye for his rematch against Tony Bellew.

He now will have a former two-division champion in his corner.

"I am now with Joel Casamayor and everything is going very well. He is Cuban like me and we understand each other perfectly.  I feel rejuvenated.  He was an Olympic champion and a professional champion.  I always looked up to him and I believe that he is the best fighter to ever come out of Cuba," Barthelemy told BoxingScene.com.

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