Purse bids for champion’s next defence have been pushed back.
Dmitry Bivol last fought in late February of 2025. On this occasion, he defeated Artur Beterbiev to become the undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the world and avenge the highly debatable loss he suffered to the same man the previous October.
The reason for Bivol’s ring absence is down to a back injury that he underwent surgery for and spent a few months recovering from. This back injury was apparently something that had increased as a problem over ten years and was a longtime issue for the Kyrgysztan-born Russian.
This layoff is already the longest of Bivol’s career. However, his next opponent is all but confirmed, and it is expected to be Germany’s Michael Eifert.
Eifert is 13-1 with 5 KOs and got into mandatory position with the IBF via beating a 40-year-old Jean Pascal. Apart from that, not much of substance makes up his résumé, so all-but-one-belt champion Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) isn’t expected to have too much difficulty.
But before the fight is to be made, the matter of purse bids must be sorted out, and they were delayed today to later this month, which could suggest that they are close to striking a deal.
Once Bivol’s defence against Eifert takes place, a mammoth fight is expected to be next, as it has been stated by Eddie Hearn in an interview with “The Stomping Ground” that he and Turki Alalshikh are wanting Bivol and Artur Beterbiev to fight on the same card in May to set up a trilogy fight between them later in the year.
Beterbiev recently turned 41 and also hasn’t fought since his rematch with Bivol. It remains to be seen whether a third fight between the pair would be for undisputed (as was the case in their first two fights), as the WBC title currently belongs to David Benavidez, who is set for a move up in weight to challenge unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramírez (who Bivol is currently the only man to have defeated).
Either way, Dmitry Bivol represents the very best quality that exists in boxing, and any fight with him in it is one that is a display of the highest level of the sport.
🚨 BIVOL-EIFERT PURSE BID POSTPONED
The purse bids for the IBF-ordered Dmitry Bivol-Michael Eifert light heavyweight title fight have been postponed by 10 days until Feb. 13 after the parties requested an extension. pic.twitter.com/hevMlUmgKU
— EverythingBoxing | Darshan Desai (@EverythingBoxi2) February 3, 2026
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