After careful and meticulous planning, Matchroom Boxing is set to host its first show in West Africa.

Headlining their December 20 event at the Legon Sports Stadium in Accra, Ghana will be light heavyweight contenders Craig Richards and Dan Azeez. Also making appearances on the card will be Leo Atang and Nishant Dev, two highly thought of prospects under the Matchroom stable.

Richards (19-4-1, 12 KOs) could spectacularly end his 2025 with another victory under his belt. Last time out he made it look easy against Padraig McCroy, stopping him in the eighth round on March 1 at The SSE Arena in Belfast.

Similarly, Azeez (22-2-1, 14 KOs) is coming off his own stoppage win, having stopped Sulaimon Adeosun on October 1 in Lagos, Nigeria.

Both men are former British 175-pound champions and are looking to assert themselves on the world scene, where Richards has fallen short once before, against Dmitry Bivol for the WBA title in May 2021.

Although all participants will be looking to put on a show, this event serves as a test run, to some extent.

Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), the former unified heavyweight champion, has quietly been planning his return. Eddie Hearn, his longtime promoter, has mentioned having his return take place in Africa, with Ghana the frontrunner for a potential February show.

The 2012 Olympic gold medalist has been out of the ring since suffering a brutal fifth-round stoppage at the hands of Daniel Dubois in September 2024. Hearn has also disclosed that there’s a chance that the 36-year-old makes his return before 2025 comes to a close.