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World Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor will don boxing gloves instead of a Santa suit, but he’ll get the opportunity to deliver a present when he defends his title at home in North Little Rock, Arkansas for the first time on Saturday, December 9 at Alltel Arena. Taylor (25-0-1, 17 KOs) will put his title at stake in front of his hometown fans which will be aired on HBO's World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00PM (ET) when he takes on former World Champion Kassim Ouma (25-2-1, 15 KOs). The 12-round main event is being promoted by DiBella Entertainment in association with Golden Boy Promotions and Peltz Boxing. 

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Taylor, 28, is one of boxing’s brightest stars and one of Arkansas’ most popular athletes. The fight with Ouma will mark his first defense in his home state. He won the title by defeating the legendary middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins on July 16, 2005, and repeated the win in the rematch on December 3, 2005.

“There’s no place like home and there’s no place I would rather defend my title,” said Taylor, whose last appearance in Arkansas was a one-sided decision over ex-middleweight champion William Joppy on December 4, 2004. “I have a lot of respect for Kassim Ouma. I know he’s hungry and he’s coming to get this title and we’ll give the fans a great night of boxing.”

“I watched Ouma against Sechew Powell, and excellent fighter who I have sparred with and let me tell you, the man comes to fight,” Taylor said of Ouma, who handed Powell his first pro loss on Aug. 5. “I respect that. He’s not the type of fighter who worries about technique. He throws punches and comes to win.”

Ouma, who will be 28 just three days after the fight, was born in Uganda. At 6, he was kidnapped and forced to join the national resistance army.

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The under-card will feature Andre Berto (15-0, 13 KOs), who is winning acclaim from many boxing writers as the top young fighter in the game, will meet gritty veteran Miguel Figueroa (24-5-1, 14 KO’s).

Currently offshore the odds are as follows: Sportsbook.com, Draw 19-1, Ouma by Decision 10-1, Ouma by KO-TKO 10-1, and Taylor by Decision 8-5, Taylor by TKO-DQ 5-7. Different sports books are offering varying ML odds. Sportsbook.com favors Taylor -650 to +450 Ouma, BoDog is offering -800 on Taylor to +424 on Ouma and Nine.com -700 on Taylor and +500 for Ouma.

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