By Jake Donovan

While there remains a sliver of hope of two sides reaching a deal, it appears the ordered heavyweight title fight between unbeaten champ Deontay Wilder and mandatory contender Alexander Povetkin will head to a purse bid.

Barring a drastic turn of events in the coming days, BoxingScene.com has learned that the World Boxing Council (WBC) will host a purse bid hearing this Friday, February 26 in Miami, Florida.

The location was moved from the originally scheduled destination at WBC headquarters in Mexico City in order to coordinate with an already scheduled event in South Florida.

“It seems the fight will be going to purse bid,” WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman told BoxingScene.com while traveling on Wednesday. “We have scheduled a WBC event to take place there, as such I will be here along with the (WBC) legal team and General Secretary to (also) host the purse bid.”

The fight has been in discussion as far back as when Povetkin was formally named the mandatory challenger to the WBC heavyweight title. Several conflicts resulted in the delay of such a fight, with Wilder making three voluntary defenses while Povetkin has remained active in Russia as the two sides sought to land on an agreed-upon date.

Motivation to accelerate such conversations came in mid-January, when the WBC formally ordered the mandatory title fight. Talks functionally began the moment Wilder knocked out Artur Szpilka in the 9th round of their January 16th headliner at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Povetink and promoter Andrey Ryabinsky were in attendance for the fight, and at the time were receptive to the idea of returning to the venue for a springtime clash.

However, the two sides continued to differ on enough issues to run closer to the deadline. Wilder (36-0, 35KOs) and promoter Lou DiBella believed all along that any and all lingering issues would eventually be worked out. Clearly that is no longer the case, as evidenced by Povetkin’s recent claim of his willingness to fight in Brooklyn (or anywhere in the United States) while questioning whether or not Wilder would go to Russia to face him.

A deal can still be reached between now and the start of the purse bid hearing, a move that would not be unprecedented. The World Boxing Association (WBA) canceled a purse bid hearing on the spot for an ordered title fight between then-World heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko and mandatory challenger Tyson Fury. The two sides raced against the clock to agree to terms for what is now a two-fight pact, with the news reaching the WBA’s office just as the sanctioning body prepared to open up the bidding process.

Ryabinsky was prepared to win that purse bid through former business associate Vlad Hryunov, similar to how they were able to secure the rights for Povetkin’s title shot versus Klitschko, submitting a whopping $23.3 million to bring the Oct. ’13 fight to Russia.

Povetkin (30-1, 22KOs) suffered the lone loss of his career that evening but has remained with Ryabinsky’s World of Boxing, which has promoted his last five fights.

The hope on their side is to extend that run and force Wilder to bring his title abroad.

“We still have some time to reach an agreement, (but) we are preparing for the purse bid,” Ryabinsky told Russian news outlet TASS over the weekend. “The purse bid (process, along with it being relocated to the United States) is even more convenient for us. Everything is objective; the side offering the most money will (promote) the bout.”

The question now becomes whether Wilder’s adviser, Al Haymon is ready to outbid Povetkin’s wealthy backers. Doing so will require his having to either secure a massive license fee from American cable giant Showtime – which is on record in stating its willingness to air the fight from anywhere, including Russia – or reaching deep into a financial war chest mainly – but not exclusively – reserved for his Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series.

According to WBC rules surrounding purse bid results, Wilder will be entitled to the favorable end of a 70/30 split as the defending champion. His percentage could increase should he have to travel to his challenger’s backyard.

Wilder claimed the title with a 12-round decision win over Canada’s Bermane Stiverne last January in Las Vegas. The win brought a heavyweight title back to the United States for the first time in more than seven years, adding to a list of achievements for the 30-year old heavyweight that include his being the last American male boxer to capture an Olympic medal, earning the bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Povetkin captured Olympic gold for his native Russia as a super heavyweight in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The now 36-year old heavyweight claimed a secondary version of the WBA title with a 12-round win over Ruslan Chagaev in Aug. ’11. Four successful defenses followed before falling well short to Klitschko for his lone career loss, having since won his last four starts.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox