The wait is almost over for Jennifer Han.

El Paso's first world boxing champion was hoping to fight in July, then August, then September or October.

Han will defend her IBF women's featherweight title on Friday, Dec. 1, against top contender Lizbeth Crespo of Argentina in the El Paso County Coliseum.

It will be Han's fourth title defense since winning the IBF world championship Sept. 19, 2015, taking a dominating unanimous decision over Nigeria's Helen Joseph in the Don Haskins Center.'

"I've been studying her style," the 34-year-old Han said. "She's a very good fighter. We're already working hard and forming a game plan and Louie (trainer Burke) has been drilling it into my brain."

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Han is now 16-3-1 in her career. He losses have been one split decision and two majority decisions and she has won six straight and eight of her last nine fights. The always-fit Han has won every fight since moving from four-rounders to the women's championship format of 10 rounds.

Crespo, 26, is 12-3 and ranked No. 1 in the IBF rankings. This will be her first fight out of her home country.

Burke said, "Jennifer has been working hard. We were hoping to get a defense last summer but in the meantime Jennifer has been working in the gym. Jennifer is always a very hard worker. Crespo is a tough, rugged girl. She comes in, punches very hard. But, at the end of the night, we're going to retain our world title."

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Event coordinator Lester Bedford said, "Here we are. Many times over the summer it looked like we had fights. Then July became August. A multitude of things happened and finally it became necessary to fight the IIBF mandated No. 1 contender. It will be a tough challenge for Jennifer."

Han's promoter Luigi Olcese of Pandora International, said, "We went through several potential opponents and couldn't make one work for one reason or another. Then it looked like we had a TV date for Jennifer so we waited around for that and it didn't happen.

"Finally enough time passed that the IBF forced us into a mandatory match for Jennifer against the No. 1 world ranked contender, Crespo," Olcese said. "The process of making this fight took about two months with a purse bid and negotiations. But here we are, ready to go now. But against the toughest challenger out there."

Han has been dominant at 10 rounds, moving and striking, moving and striking and never tiring. She defeated Joseph 98-91, 98-92, 97-92 for the world title — El Paso's first. She defended it against Calixta Silgado of Colombia in April, 2016, with a shutout performance, taking a 100-90, 100-90, 100-90 decision in Southwest University Park.

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Han defeated Liliana Martinez of the Dominican Republic 100-90, 99-91, 98-92 in the Haskins Center Oct. 15, 2016. Han then pieced together yet another dominating performance in her last outing, defeating Olivia Gerula of Canada 100-89, 100-89, 100-89 on Feb. 17, 2017, in the Haskins Center.

Han wants to keep rolling because she has even bigger dreams.

"Hopefully, I can be successful so I can follow in my teammates (Austin Trout and her brother Abie Han) footsteps and fight on TV," Han said. "She (Crespo) is just going to be one more step to my future."

And that next step will come — finally — on Friday night, Dec. 1.

Tickets go on sale Saturday and they are $25, $40, $60 and $100 and they are available at the Coliseum Box Office, TicketMaster outlets and TicketMaster.com.

Bill Knight may be reached at 546-6171; bknight@elpasotimes.com; @BillKnightept on Twitter.