The International Boxing Federation (IBF) has been making headlines in recent months for stripping unified champions of their belts for not facing their mandatory challengers.
Both Canelo Alvarez and Oleksandr Usyk lost their IBF world titles for not fighting their mandated opponents.
Canelo was ordered to face William Scull, and the Ukrainian was supposed to fight Daniel Dubois, but both rejected these matchups.
WBC Requests Artur Beterbiev Fight David Benavidez
Before the highly anticipated bout between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, Mauricio Sulaiman of the WBC stated that the winner must face David Benavidez as the mandatory challenger. Therefore, this should be Beterbiev‘s next fight under the WBC.
However, the IBF has now stepped in and is enforcing its mandatory challenger for the Russian-Canadian champion, which is Michael Eifert, a German fighter with a record of 13-1, according to Michael Benson, editor at talkSPORT.com.
If Beterbiev does not immediately agree to fight Eifert, the IBF may strip him of his title, thus ending his status as the undisputed champion at 175 pounds.
Dmitry Bivol Demands Rematch with Beterbiev
The controversial victory of Artur Beterbiev over Dmitry Bivol on Saturday, October 12, in Saudi Arabia has taken a legal turn.
Bivol‘s team, which includes many boxing figures who believe the Russian won the fight – including the event’s organizer Turqui Alalshikh – has officially requested through a lawyer that the WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF order an immediate rematch due to the questionable judge scores.
The fight was scored 116-112 and 115-112 in favor of Beterbiev, with one judge scoring it a 114-114 draw.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, Bivol himself is distancing from his team’s protest and is awaiting the opportunity for a rematch.
If the rematch goes through, either through legal means or an agreement between the parties, David Benavidez, who has been waiting for his first world title shot after Canelo rejected fighting him at 168 pounds, might have to continue waiting for his official challenge against a champion.
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