by Rick Reeno & David P. Greisman

The fall fight between light heavyweight titleholder Bernard Hopkins and his mandatory challenger, Karo Murat, has been pushed back one week to Oct. 26, according to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer.

The Showtime televised bout was originally scheduled for July 13 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. That card was canceled when Murat, who hails from Germany, was unable to obtain a visa to enter the United States in time. Though no official announcement had been made yet by Golden Boy Promotions, company CEO Richard Schaefer told BoxingScene.com last month that the fight would end up in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Oct. 19.

It’ll come seven days later.

Hopkins, still active and competitive at 48, won the International Boxing Federation’s belt in March with a decision win over Tavoris Cloud. That brought his record to 53-6-2 with 32 knockouts and 2 no contests.

Murat, who turns 30 in September, has been rather inactive of late. He had a draw with Gabriel Campillo in October 2011, and he last fought in June 2012, scoring a seventh-round stoppage that brought his record to 25-1-1 with 15 knockouts.

Another fight being targeted for the card, Schaefer tells BoxingScene.com, is Sakio Bika (32-5, 21KOs) making the first defense of his WBC light heavyweight title against undefeated Anthony Dirrell (26-0, 22KOs). Both fighters are advised by Al Haymon.

Schaefer indicates the card could also become a tripleheader event, with the return of WBO middleweight champion Peter Quillin (29-0, 21KOs).

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter @fightingwords2 or send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com