Richards vs Azeez: Date, fight time, undercard, how to watch, prediction, ring walks and odds

It is the first of two big cards taking place in Africa this weekend, with Lawrence Okolie and Ebenezer Tetteh also clashing in Nigeria on Sunday evening.

Richards vs Azeez pits together two vastly-experienced South London light-heavyweight rivals and former sparring partners who are each on the comeback trail in the latter stages of their respective careers.

Former British title-holder Richards – AKA ‘Spider’ – famously took now undisputed champion Dmitry Bivol the full 12 rounds in Manchester in 2021 and lost to Joshua Buatsi a year later.

He was also defeated on points by Willy Hutchinson in a cracking contest to open Queensberry’s 5-0 whitewash of Matchroom during the inaugural 5v5 event in Riyadh last summer as he was denied the vacant WBC Silver light-heavyweight belt.

However, he returned successfully in March by stopping Padraig McCrory on the undercard of the first Lewis Crocker vs Paddy Donovan fight in Belfast with a brutal eighth-round body shot.

Now the 35-year-old will hope to build some momentum against the 36-year-old Azeez, whose woeful draw against Hrvoje Sep at Selhurst Park in June 2024 was sandwiched by defeats by Buatsi – when he lost the British and Commonwealth titles – and Lewis Edmondson, when he could not win back those aforementioned belts as he suffered a majority decision loss at the Copper Box Arena.

He did bounce back with low-key wins over Bahadur Karami and Sulaimon Adeosun, the latter bout coming in Lagos in October.

Richards vs Azeez takes place on Saturday December 20, 2025 outside at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium – AKA the Legon Sports Stadium – in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.

The main card is due to begin at approximately 7pm GMT, which is the same time locally. Richards vs Azeez is expected to start at around 10pm.