On December 23rd, the IBF ordered its featherweight champion Angelo Leo and its #1 ranked contender Ra’eese Aleem to begin negotiations for a mandatory defense of the title. An agreement was not reached within the timeframe set forth by the IBF, so the IBF has scheduled a purse bid for February 17th. Leo (26-1) is a two-division champion who took the title from Luis Alberto Lopez in 2024 and then defended it last year in Japan against Tomoki Kameda. Aleem (23-1) is on a run of three high quality wins since losing a split decision to Sam Goodman in Australia in 2023.