WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: JERMAIN TAYLOR VS. KASSIM OUMA AND ANDRE BERTO VS. MIGUEL FIGUEROA

IT'S A BIG NIGHT OF MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP ACTION, LIVE SATURDAY, DEC. 9, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

The world's premier middleweight champ puts his title on the line when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: JERMAIN TAYLOR VS. KASSIM OUMA AND ANDRE BERTO VS. MIGUEL FIGUEROA is seen live from the Alltel Arena in Little Rock on SATURDAY, DEC. 9 (10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT). The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Lennox Lewis will be ringside for the event, which will be available in HDTV, as well as closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

HBO2 playdates: Dec. 10 (10:00 a.m., 5:30 p.m.) and 12 (11:30 p.m.). Times are ET/PT. Coming off two hotly contested victories --both against former undisputed middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins -- and a hard-fought draw versus the accomplished Winky Wright, emerging superstar and Little Rock native Jermain Taylor (25-0-1, 17 KOs) returns to the friendly confines of home to take on Kassim Ouma (25-2-1, 15 KOs), originally from Kampala, Uganda, and now living in West Palm Beach, Fla., in a scheduled 12-round championship fight. Taylor, a 2000 U.S. Olympic bronze medal winner, has been on a fast track to stardom in the division, thanks to his fearless approach. Former junior middleweight champ Ouma began boxing as a child soldier in Uganda and defected to escape the country's brutal regime while in the U.S. on an amateur boxing trip. Having risen to tough challenges in the past, he will face his biggest test to date.

In the opening bout, Andre Berto (15-0, 13 KOs) from Winter Haven, FL, battles Camden, NJ native Miguel Figueroa (24-5-2, 14 KOs) in a scheduled ten-round bout. Boasting an undefeated record and near-perfect knockout-to-win ratio, Berto, a 2004 Olympian, is considered a top welterweight prospect. Figueroa, a battle-tested contender, looks to establish himself as the holiday surprise of the division by handing Berto his first loss at 147 pounds.