Super-middleweight contender Lucian Bute of Montreal will face a tough lefthanded opponent when he fights Sergey Tatevosyan of Russia on Dec. 1 at the Bell Centre, promoter InterBox announced Thursday.

Tatevosyan (25-6) is coming off a victory by TKO in the seventh round in Copenhagen on Saturday over Rudy Markussen of Denmark, the WBO's No. 1 contender.

Bute, also a southpaw, was in the seats for that bout and Dane Mikkel Kessler's knock-out win over Markus Beyer of Germany to unify the WBC and WBA 168-pound titles.

The Romanian-born Bute (18-0) feels he needs two or three more fights before challenging for a world title in 2007. He is ranked No. 3 by the WBC, No. 5 by the WBA and No. 6 by the IBF and the WBO.

Tatevosyan will be the second lefthander Bute has faced. He knocked out lefty Zane Marks in the first round of only this third pro fight in 2004.

Promoter InterBox said the Dec. 1 card will also have bouts for former Canadian Olympians Benoit Gaudet (9-1), and Antonin Decarie (11-0) as well as Sebastien Gauthier (8-0) and Jo Jo Dan (15-0).

© The Canadian Press, 2007