By Luke Furman
Light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev (10-0, 10KOs) will fight in an IBF final eliminator on the 24th of February at the Videotron Center in Canada, according to his promoter Yvon Michel of GYM.
This past Saturday night in Las Vegas, the IBF title changed hands when Andre Ward won a twelve round unanimous decision over Sergey Kovalev at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The victory also gave Ward the WBA and WBO world titles.
There is a rematch clause, so Ward and Kovalev will do it again in the first half of 2017.
Michel received a phone call from Lindsey Tucker of the IBF, who advised the Canadian promoter that Beterbiev and Erik Skoglund were going to be ordered to face each other in a final eliminator. Ward was ranked at number one by the IBF, with Beterbiev sitting at number two and Skoglund at three. With Ward capturing the title, the number one position is now vacant.
The mandate of GYM and Beterbiev's adviser Al Haymon of Premier Boxing Championships (PBC), is now to convince Skoglund, a young boxer of the stable of Sauerland Event, to accept the fight.
Michel told The Montreal Journal that he expects Skoglund, who has a good career in Europe without having to put himself in danger, to take a pass on the fight.
"If Skoglund refuses as we expect, we will call the fourth [ranked contender], then the fifth, until we convince a ranked fighter to face Beterbiev. It must be understood that Beterbiev is a legend in Europe because of his career as an amateur. We'll see," said Michel to the paper.
Should Beterbiev win in February, the winner of Ward-Kovalev II would have until September to face him in a mandatory defense. And Michel told the paper that Haymon has no issue with Beterbiev fighting the winner on HBO or any other network.
Beterbiev will first return on December 23 at the Casino du Lac-Leamy in Gatineau. The opponent will be Isidro Ranoni Prieto (26-1-3).
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org
