Gare, who has not fought for over a year, will need to shake off the ring rust very early if he has any intentions of successfully defending his title. Francis, the current WBF African cruiserweight champion, has had two fights this year after returning from an absence from the ring.

He was outstanding in defeating the talented Congolese fighter Alex Mbaya in August this year in arguably the fight of the year in South Africa.  Francis, a come forward aggressive fighter, who has power in both hands is really most comfortable at super middle and the fact that he was able to outmuscle Mbaya must be of major concern to Gare. 

Gare is a master technician who has considerable ability to outbox and outthink opponents as Rigoberto Alvarez the current WBA world champion, Lee Sherrington and others will testify.

This time he will not need to look for his opponent as Francis is sure to be on top of Gare from the first second. WBF President Howard Goldberg added: 

'This is going to be a war - William has always been one of my favorite champions both inside and outside the ring, but he will need every ounce of his expertise and courage to come through this one.  It's a fifty fifty fight!'