UPDATE: After several postponements, the IBF has canmcelled the Bivol vs. Eifert purse bid and announced that the two sides have reached an agreement for world light heavyweight champion Dmitrii Bivol (pictured) to make his next defense against Michael Eifert of Germany. The fight is rumored to be headed to the Oleksandr Usyk undercard scheduled for May 23rd in Egypt.

Original story (Feb. 12, 2026): The IBF announced that a purse bid for world light heavyweight champion Dmitrii Bivol's mandatory defense against Michael Eifert of Germany has been rescheduled from February 13th to February 20th. Bivol is the true world champion of the 175-pound division based on his winning the second of two undisputed championship bouts against fellow Russian Artur Beterbiev. But he has not fought since February of 2025. Eifert is very lightly credentialed at 13-1, with his best win coming in March 2023 in an IBF eliminator vs. former world champion Jean Pascal. Eifert has only fought once since then against a nondescript opponent, instead choosing to wait for this IBF title shot to come his way. Bivol is also recognized as champion by the WBA and WBO and actually is the true world 175-pound monarch, so there is little pressure on him to actually fight Eifert if he is not inclined to do so.