This week, mere days after Artur Beterbiev won an excellent fight with Dmitry Bivol to become undisputed light heavyweight champion, the IBF announced that Beterbiev must defend his title against mandatory challenger Michael Eifert. The news came on the heels of Bivol's team filing an appeal with the IBF -- along with the WBA, WBC and WBO -- over the mildly controversial result of the Beterbiev fight.
Many observers felt Bivol deserved the nod after the conclusion of 12 rounds and a rematch only made sense. The result was far from a robbery, but there was enough debate surrounding the fight between two pound-for-pound elites that everyone from the fighters to the promoters, to the man behind the money to get the first fight done, Turki Alalshikh, all said -- if not demanded -- that a rematch was the prudent course of action.
There's a subtle irony to the fact that Beterbiev vs. Bivol was the rare major boxing match in the modern era that did not contain a rematch clause, which stands as its own issue often dragging down boxing.
A major allure of the fight was that it was not only a clash between two great fighters, but one that crowned the first undisputed light heavyweight champion of boxing's modern "four-belt era." Should the IBF continue their demand for Beterbiev's initial defense to come against Eifert and Beterbiev choose to instead face Bivol in a fight with far greater financial returns as well as high interest among fans, that rematch would probably not be for the undisputed championship as the IBF would strip Beterbiev of the title.
On its face, the idea seems absurd. There is no doubt who the top two men at 175 pounds are. The division is in a good place, with elite contenders David Benavidez and David Morrell set to meet to determine the proper "next man up" for whoever emerges on top for the winner of a Beterbiev vs. Bivol rematch.
Instead, the IBF is demanding a defense against Eifert, a fighter with no fanbase and no particularly notable victories. Eifert earned his IBF mandatory status with a 2022 win over similarly unheralded Stefano Abatangelo to capture the sanctioning body's "inter-continental championship." Eifert followed up that win with the biggest victory of his career, a 2023 win over a badly faded version of Jean Pascal.
Boxrec's rankings have Eifert as the No. 25 light heavyweight in the world. The WBA, WBO and WBC don't have Eifert listed in their top 15. Only the IBF sees Eifert as not only a, but the top title challenger.
The IBF has certainly proven that they are unafraid of stripping popular, undisputed champions in pursuit of their own agendas, with two glaring recent examples.
When a long-awaited match between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion finally came to pass, the IBF made it clear that the winner would be stripped should they pursue the contractually mandated rematch rather than face the IBF's mandatory challenger. That challenger was initially Filip Hrgovic, but timing meant that the title would be given to the winner of Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois in June. While the bout between Hrgovic and Dubois was for the interim title, Dubois was elevated to world champion shortly after winning and Usyk was stripped of the belt, meaning the December rematch is no longer for the undisputed title.
Similarly, in July the IBF stripped Saul "Canelo" Alvarez of his super middleweight title, ending his reign as four-belt undisputed champion at 168 pounds. Alvarez is firmly established as one of the greatest fighters of his generation but he failed to pursue an IBF-mandated fight with mandatory challenger William Scull.
Who is William Scull? That's a question even hardcore boxing fans were hard-pressed to answer before Alvarez was stripped of his title.
In a cruel twist of fate, Benavidez and Morrell were Alvarez's top challengers and both held mandatory status -- for the WBC and WBA, respectively -- at super middleweight only to see Alvarez pursue less challenging fights with those sanctioning bodies not enforcing their status. As a result, Benavidez and Morrell moved to light heavyweight to pursue world -- and undisputed -- championship glory. However, neither the WBC nor WBA have gone so far as taking their titles off of Alvarez.
Now, because the IBF may strip Beterbiev for his failure to face a pretender of a mandatory opponent, the clash between Benavidez and Morrell may determine a challenger for a unified, rather than undisputed, championship.
At times, sanctioning body mandatory challengers are a valuable tool. They can force champions to face the best opponents rather than a parade of lesser competition as they protect their status and collect checks. That clearly isn't the motivation behind the IBF's recent actions.
Is the sport in a better place with the IBF depriving the world of undisputed champions for those fighters choosing to face better opponents than the likes of William Scull and Michael Eifert? Certainly not. But that's the world of boxing, where money and self-interest rule over even the most basic level of common sense.