Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol went toe-to-toe in an instant classic to crown the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the four-belt era on Saturday night – with Beterbiev edging a controversial split-decision. Since then, a rematch has been demanded, but it now appears Beterbiev will be forced to fight an alternate opponent.
After 12 rounds of high level action in Riyadh, a number of viewers felt as though Bivol had done enough to get the nod on the scorecards, but it was Beterbiev’s hand was raised – becoming an ironically disputed undisputed light-heavyweight champion.
Due to the controversy and quality of their first encounter, Dmitry Bivol and his team have requested that a rematch be ordered, believing that the uncertainty of the judges’ decision warrants a second affair.
Meanwhile, the next worthy candidates for the 175lb throne, David Benavidez and David Morrell, are scheduled to face one another in January – opening up the possibility for the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch to fight the winner of Benavidez-Morrell during 2025.
However, today it has been confirmed that the IBF has instead ordered Artur Beterbiev to defend his world title against 13-1 German contender, Michael Eifert, as per Michael Benson.
The IBF have now officially ordered Artur Beterbiev to defend his undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO light-heavyweight world titles vs Michael Eifert next.
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) October 17, 2024
“The IBF have now officially ordered Artur Beterbiev to defend his undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO light-heavyweight world titles vs Michael Eifert next.”
Eifert defeated former unified light-heavyweight champion Jean Pascal in March 2023 and has fought just once since, scoring a second-round knockout victory over 39-year-old Venezuelan Carlos Eduardo Jimenez back in August.
Although the clash between Beterbiev and Eifert has been ordered by the IBF, the likelihood is that the Canadian-Russian will instead opt to vacate his belt and go ahead with the much more fruitful rematch against Bivol.
As for the future of that world title if Beterbiev decides to vacate, Eifert will could be upgraded from mandatory challenger to world champion but the more likely scenario is that he will fight for the vacant title.
At #2 in the IBF rankings is Australia’s Conor Wallace (14-1) who will be licking his lips at the prospect of a showdown with Eifert for world honours.
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