Rising junior middleweight Ermal Hadribeaj will put his WBC International title on the line for the seventh time when he faces IIhami Aydemir at the 5,000-seat basketball arena KC Drazen Petrovic, in Zagreb, Croatia, on May 23.

Hadribeaj-Aydemir had been due to take place in Maidstone, England on May 17 but logistical issues meant that the fight will now take place a week later on the undercard of the already announced homecoming of super middleweight contender Luka Plantic (11-0, 9 knockouts) against an as yet unknown opponent and the intriguing looking European heavyweight title fight between Labinot Xhoxhaj and Mourad Aliev.

Also tabbed to appear on the undercard is cruiserweight Damir Beljo (28-2, 23 KOs), light heavyweight Branimir Malenica (10-1, 9 KOs) and the eagerly-anticipated debut of former top amateur heavyweight Luka Platljacic. Opponents for each will be announced in due course.

"We are the small promoters, we are growing the guys for the future," said Ahmet Oner of Arena Box Promotions.

Hadribeaj (20-0-1, 7 KOs) has been a professional since 2019. The Albanian-born American resident won 13 of his first 14 bouts, the lone blemish was a draw. He won the vacant WBC International title by outboxing Daniel Buciuc (UD 10) in Dubai.

Since then, the 31-year-old southpaw has defended his title in America, Albania, Uzbekistan and Germany. He holds wins over faded former 154-pound titleholder Carlos Molina (TKO 9), previously unbeaten Younes Zaraa (UD 10) and, most recently, edged home against Eddy Colmenares (MD 10). "The Sniper" is currently ranked WBC No. 7.

Aydemir (22-2, 13 KOs) made his debut in 2014. After nine consecutive wins, he was upset by Zoltan Szabo (UD 10) at welterweight. A subsequent 11-fight winning streak was ended when losing to Jorick Luisetto (MD 10) in June 2022.

The 32-year-old German has since bounced back with two six-round decision victories to help secure this opportunity.