By Keith Idec
THE IBF ignored Dmitry Bivol’s request for an immediate rematch with Artur Beterbiev and ordered Beterbiev to make a mandatory defense of its light-heavyweight title next against Germany’s Michael Eifert.
Boxing News has learned that Beterbiev’s team was informed Thursday that he must fight Eifert next or risk being stripped of its 175-pound championship. The 26-year-old Eifert (13-1, 5 KOs), ranked No. 1 among the IBF’s light heavyweight contenders, is most known for upsetting former WBA/WBC champ Jean Pascal (then 36-6-1) by unanimous decision in March 2023 in Laval, Quebec, Canada, Pascal’s hometown.
Unlike the WBA, WBC and WBO, the IBF almost always adheres to its rules, often at its own expense because the mandated matches it orders aren’t nearly as lucrative as higher-profile alternatives for its champions that would generate greater sanctioning fees.
Most recently, undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and fully unified super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez have given up IBF belts rather than making mandated defenses.
Daniel Dubois knocked out former unified heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua on September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London to retain the IBF belt he was awarded because Usyk was contractually committed to an immediate rematch with Tyson Fury.
Ukraine’s Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) and England’s Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) will fight again December 21 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their first fight, which Usyk won by split decision May 18 at Kingdom Arena, crowned the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
England’s Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) stopped Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) on cuts during the eighth round June 1 at Kingdom Arena to win the IBF interim title. The IBF later elevated Dubois to full champion.
On Saturday, unheralded Cuban William Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) and Russian contender Vladimir Shishkin (16-0, 10 KOs) will fight in Berlin for the IBF 168-pound championship stripped from Alvarez in July. The IBF took Alvarez’s title because he declined to face Scull, his mandatory challenger, to box Edgar Berlanga, whom Alvarez beat by unanimous decision September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) retained the IBF, WBC and WBO 175-pound crowns and won the WBA belt by beating Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at Kingdom Arena. The 39-year-old Beterbiev became boxing’s first fully unified light heavyweight champion of the four-belt era by edging Russia’s Bivol.
Poland’s Pawel Kardyni (116-112) and American Glenn Feldman (115-113) scored their closely contested championship match for the Russian-born, Quebec-based Beterbiev, who went the distance for the first time in his 11-year professional career. Spain’s Manuel Oliver Palomo scored Beterbiev-Bivol a draw, 114-114.
Patrick English, a New Jersey-based attorney, filed a petition on Bivol’s behalf Wednesday with the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO to request an immediate rematch. Vadim Kornilov, Bivol’s manager, has also sought a review of Kardyni’s scorecard because he credited Beterbiev for winning eight rounds.
Beterbiev is not contractually obligated to battle Bivol again, though both boxers expressed immediate interest in a rematch.
