By Keith Idec
Promoters for Artur Beterbiev and Sullivan Barrera hadn’t come to an agreement by the time this story was posted Wednesday night, thus it appears their IBF-mandated, light-heavyweight elimination match is headed to purse bid.
The purse bid is scheduled for noon ET on Thursday at the IBF’s headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey. Quebec’s Yvon Michel, the Russian-born Beterbiev’s promoter, and Main Events, the New Jersey company that promotes Barrera, are expected to submit bids.
Michel and Kathy Duva, Main Events’ chief executive officer, have been negotiating since the IBF granted them additional time to make a deal January 20. They remain apart on money, however, which made this purse bid necessary.
The 32-year-old Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs), who’s ranked No. 2 among light heavyweights by the IBF, knocked out Argentina’s Isidro Prieto (26-2-3, 22 KOs) in the first round of his last fight, December 23 in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
The 34-year-old Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs), the IBF’s seventh-ranked contender at 175 pounds, is coming off an impressive victory December 16 in Indio, California.
The Cuban-born contender knocked out previously unbeaten Ukrainian prospect Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (17-1, 14 KOs) in the seventh round of a scheduled 10-rounder that night. Barrera, who was dropped during the second round, sent Shabranskyy to the canvas in the first, fifth and seventh rounds before referee Ray Corona stopped the bout.
Miami’s Barrera, who lost to since-crowned IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champ Andre Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) in his previous bout, would be a step up in competition for Beterbiev. The Russian knockout artist has boxed beyond the fourth round just once in his 11 professional fights.
The winner of a Beterbiev-Barrera bout would become the IBF’s No. 1 light heavyweight contender, presumably for the winner of the Ward-Sergey Kovalev rematch.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
