Light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol’s defense against long-waiting mandatory challenger Michael Eifert has been set for May 30 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, according to promoter Matchroom Boxing.
That is one week after the May 23 date it had initially been announced for, as a supporting bout underneath Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven in Egypt.
Eifert, 13-1 (5 KOs), is a 28-year-old from Germany. He has been the IBF’s mandatory challenger for more than three years, dating back to his March 2023 unanimous decision over Jean Pascal in an elimination bout. Eifert’s sole fight since then was in August 2024, when he shook off some rust with a four-minute TKO of the 12-4 Carlos Eduardo Jimenez.
This title defense wasn’t always Bivol’s obligation. Originally it was Artur Beterbiev’s. But Eifert had to wait while Bivol (who was the WBA titleholder) and Artur Beterbiev (who had the IBF, WBC and WBO belts) had their two matches to decide who would stand alone atop the 175lbs weight class.
Beterbiev won a majority decision in October 2024 to claim the throne. Then Bivol seized all four world titles with a majority decision win of his own in February 2025, inheriting Eifert as his mandatory challenger.
That was the last fight for Bivol, a 35-year-old Russian who is now 24-1 (12 KOs). He had back surgery last year and did not fight again. The IBF ordered him to defend against Eifert, which led to a long saga of negotiations, deadlines and extensions before a deal was at last reached.
Bivol remains the IBF, WBA and WBO titleholder, as well as the lineal and Ring Magazine light heavyweight champion. However, he parted ways with his WBC belt last year; David Benavidez now holds that title.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
