Jessica McCaskill vs Victoria Bustos leads December 4th Haney-Diaz undercard

Matchroom has officially unveiled the supporting cast for Devin Haney’s December 4th title defense against Joseph Diaz Jr, led by the freshly signed Jessica McCaskill defending her undisputed welterweight titles against two-division champion Victoria Noelia Bustos.

McCaskill (10-2, 3 KO) scored one of women’s boxing’s biggest upsets in recent memory when she ended Cecilia Braekhus’ 13-year unbeaten streak, and though she may have gotten a bit of help from the judges, she absolutely deserved the win in their rematch. Argentina’s Bustos (22-6, 0 KO) has lost only to Erica Anabella Farias, Katie Taylor, and the aforementioned Braekhus in the last six years. BoxRec has her ranked fourth in the division.

“Matchroom gave me a shot on the big stage, and I want to finish my career them – I’m excited!” said McCaskill. “We have a tough test in front of us in Victoria, she’s a great fighter and she’s been in with everyone, but I am confident I will keep my belts and we’ll move on to more great fights in 2022.”

Up at heavyweight, Filip Hrgovic (13-0, 11 KO) takes on Scott Alexander (16-4-2, 8 KO) in a grotesque mismatch. It’s hard not to feel for Hrgovic; he was supposed to be in an IBF final eliminator, but Michael Hunter blew him off in favor of tanking his own career with Triller. Rather than find a new opponent for Hrgovic, the IBF instead made Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin the eliminator despite Martin previously turning an eliminator against Hunter down.

I guess precision ducking does pay off.

“I’m looking forward to getting back in the ring and fighting on a big show in Las Vegas,” said Hrgović. “I’ve always wanted to box in Las Vegas where so many great Heavyweight champions have fought before. My opponent Scott Alexander is a tough fighter, but I have been training hard and will be ready to give the fans another great performance on December 11.”

Montana Love (16-0-1, 8 KO) will make his Matchroom debut on the heels of his star-making stoppage of Ivan Baranchyk, meeting Mexico’s Carlos Diaz (29-1, 14 KO). “Chuko’s” first and only major fight say him stopped in five by Jose Zepeda three years back, though he did manage to floor Zepeda in the process.

“I’m excited for my debut with Matchroom and DAZN December 4,” said Love. “Too Pretty taking his throne, this my shit now.”

The rest of the card features Austin “Ammo” Williams’ (8-0, 6 KO) return to the ring after a mental health break against Contender vet Quatavious Cash (14-2, 8 KO), plus Alexis Espino (9-0, 6 KO) versus recent Diego Pacheco victim Rodolfo Gomez Jr. (14-5-1, 10 KO) and the latest from Marc Castro (4-0, 4 KO) opposite TBA.