Hyun Mi Choi returns for her annual title defense on the heels of a queen already being crowned without her involvement.

The unbeaten two-division titlist is set for the tenth defense of her WBA junior lightweight title as she faces Edmonton’s Vanessa Bradford. Both boxers made weight for their scheduled ten-round bout, which takes place Wednesday evening on tvN from Olympic Park Gymnasium in Choi’s hometown of Seoul, South Korea.

Choi—originally from North Korea before she and her family defected in 2004—came in right at the 130-pound divisional limit, while Bradford was a near-career lightest at 127 pounds for her first major title fight.

The bout comes more than three days after Alycia Baumgardner (13-1, 7KOs) established herself as the class of the junior lightweight division following her ten-round, split decision win over Mikaela Mayer. Baumgardner defended her WBC belt for the second time, while winning the lineal/IBF/WBO titles in her tightly contested unification clash with the previously unbeaten Mayer (17-1, 5KOs) on October 15 at The O2 in London.

Baumgardner-Mayer came about after each were unsuccessful in separate bids to land a title unification battle with the elusive Choi (19-0-1, 5KOs), who has fought just once in each of the past five years.

Interestingly, Choi’s title defense comes against an opponent who has faced both Baumgardner and Mayer.

Bradford suffered points losses to both boxers in separate non-title fights. She dropped a one-sided eight-round decision to a then 7-0 Mayer in October 2018 and was the final non-title opponent for Baumgardner, who outpointed Bradford over eight rounds last August 14. Baumgardner went on to capture the WBC junior lightweight title just three months later, scoring a sensational fourth-round knockout of Terri Harper last November 13 in Sheffield, England.

Bradford has since rebounded with an eight-round points win over Carrise Brown on August 6 in Saint Petersburg, Florida. The 38-year-old challenger enters her first career title fight which doubles as her first pro fight outside of North America.

Choi ends a thirteen-month ring absence with the title defense. Wednesday’s clash is her first since a ninth-round stoppage of barely .500 challenger Simone Aparecida da Silva (17-16 at the time) last September 18 in Dongducheon, South Korea.

Choi—who turns 32 on November 7—has not fought more than once in a calendar year since 2017. The light rate of activity has stretched out what serves as the longest active title reign in the sport dating back to 2014. All but one career bout has come with a major title at stake, though her level of opposition has been considerably less inspiring than her incredible backstory.

With a win, Choi and her team can expect to be contacted by Baumgardner in hopes of moving forward with an undisputed championship showdown in the first part of 2023.

Below are the weights for the rest of the undercard.

Jin Su Kim (8-4, 4KOs), Ansan, South Korea, 146.4 pounds vs. Yoo Sub Shin (1-0, 1KO) Seoul, 146.2 pounds—10 rounds, welterweight

Ki Hwan Kim (2-0, 1KO), Seoul, 138.6 pounds vs. Jong Sun Lee (0-1, 0KOs), Seoul, 137 ¾ pounds—4 rounds, lightweight

Jin Woo Choi, Seoul, 186 pounds vs. Chang Soo Han (pro debut), Suwon, South Korea, 182 pounds—4 rounds, cruiserweight

Jae Won Kim (1-0-1, 1KO), Seoul, 149 ¼ pounds vs. Young Joon Chun (1-2, 0KOs), Seoul, 149.8 pounds—4 rounds, welterweight

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox