Several weeks later, Dmitry Bivol and Michael Eifert finally found common ground.
BoxingScene has confirmed that a deal was reached for the IBF mandatory light heavyweight title fight. The development came within 24 hours of a purse bid hearing previously scheduled for this Tuesday, but which was canceled outright as a result.
Fight Freaks Unite’s Dan Rafael first reported that the bout is likely to take place in supporting capacity to the May 23 Oleksandr Usyk-Rico Verhoeven heavyweight championship fight in the shadows of The Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
The matter puts an end to an ordeal that has lingered on for months, with several delays along the way for a variety of reasons.
Bivol, 24-1 (12 KOs), will attempt his first defense of his second tour as a light heavyweight champion. He has not fought since his majority decision win over Artur Beterbiev in their rematch in February 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The win saw Bivol become the undisputed 175lbs champion, a feat that Beterbiev accomplished with a narrow win in their October 2024 clash, also in Riyadh.
With the victory, Bivol regained the WBA title he previously held for nearly seven years from November 2017 through the first fight with Beterbiev. However, he also inherited mandatory challengers from both the IBF and WBC.
WBC officials wound up jumping the line, as they immediately called for a title consolidation bout between Bivol and David Benavidez, the WBC interim titlist at the time. The matter was due to head to a purse bid, before Bivol vacated the title after an unsuccessful appeal to pause the fight and first negotiate with Germany’s Eifert, 13-1 (5 KOs), as the overdue IBF mandatory.
In lieu of subsequently proceeding with a clash versus Eifert, Bivol instead sat out the rest of 2025 after undergoing surgery to remove a herniated disc.
Eifert patiently waited out the process after a failed attempt to secure an interim title fight.
He became the mandatory challenger after a March 2023 points win over former lineal champion Jean Pascal on the road in Laval, Canada. Just one fight has followed for Eifert, along with step-aside compensation as he allowed Beterbiev-Bivol I and II to take place ahead of his own overdue title fight.
The bout was finally ordered earlier this year. To the surprise of nobody, the negotiation period ended without a deal in place, despite confirmation that Bivol opened camp for a planned springtime return.
Attempts to schedule a purse bid hearing were met with five consecutive weeks of permitted extensions, as both sides – Matchroom Boxing and manager Vadim Kornilov for Bivol, SES Promotions and manager Benedikt “Benny “Blanko from the Burg” Poelchau for Eifert – insisted they were closing in on a deal.
That day finally arrived, which means a welcomed sigh of relief for all involved.
Eifert will enter his first career title fight; Bivol is 13-1 (3 KOs) in fights with at least one major title at stake.
