By Ryan Burton

Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (18-1) has advised BoxingScene.com that he has accepted a fight against Artur Beterbiev (11-0) to determine the mandatory challenger to IBF champion Andre Ward who also captured the WBA and WBO titles when he defeated Sergey Kovalev this past November.

A deal has not been reached as of yet - but Barrera's promoter, Main Events, informed the IBF that their fighter is ready and willing to take part in the ordered final eliminator. Beterbiev is the highest ranked contender at #2 while Barrera is ranked #9 by the organization.

Barrera last fought in December when he stopped the previously unbeaten Slava Shabranskyy. Beterbiev was also in action in December when he stopped Isidro Prieto in the first round of their fight.

If an agreement between Beterbiev's promoter GYM and Barrera's promoter Main Events isn't reached, a purse bid will be ordered. Two sides are involved in ongoing negotiations and there is a 75-25 split if the fight lands in a purse bid situation.

The winner will have to wait a little while to get their title shot with Ward, because the Olympic gold medal winner is contractually obligated to face Kovalev in a rematch that is expected to take place in the first half of 2017. 

There is no determination as of yet on when the Ward-Kovalev rematch will take place or where. The winner of the fight will have a pre-determined period of time to satisfy the IBF's mandatory order.

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