Munroe to make title defence

Super-bantamweight champion Rendall Munroe will make the fifth defence of his title against Simone Maludrottu in November.

Munroe heads for fifth defence of European crown

European super-bantamweight champion Rendall Munroe will make the fifth defence of his title against Simone Maludrottu in November. Munroe, 29, will have the home advantage at the Harvey Hadden Sports Centre in Nottingham after promoter Frank Maloney won purse bids for the fight against the mandatory challenger. Maloney is set to attend the WBC convention in Jeju, Korea next month with the aim of persuading the governing body to grant the contest eliminator status for their world title held by Japan's Toshiaki Nishioka. Leicester southpaw Munroe is currently ranked number two for the title by the organisation, with Maludrottu placed at 13th.

Unbeaten

Maludrottu won the European bantamweight title in 2004 and retained it for three years, recording eight unbeaten defences before he relinquished his crown. In April 2006, Maludrottu made himself familiar to British fans by seeing off challenger Damaen Kelly in Belfast by a dubious points verdict before stopping him in three rounds in a rematch seven months later in the Sardinian's hometown of Olbia. Maludrottu went on to establish himself further in a title defence against Ian Napa in March 2007, with the challenger going down clearly on points. In January 2008 Maludrottu was handed his attempt at the WBC crown, but was defeated on points by Japanese title-holder Hozumi Hasegawa. Maludrottu is expected to present an ominous challenge for Munroe, who won his crown in March 2008 from Kiko Martinez but hasn't boxed since February when he outpointed Issac Nettey to secure the Commonwealth title.