A fight seemingly on the verge of being finalized is instead available to the highest bidder.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the IBF has ordered a purse bid hearing for the Emmanuel Rodriguez-Melvin Lopez vacant bantamweight title fight. The 30-day negotiation deadline was reached without a deal in place, which prompted the IBF to schedule a session for April 18 from its headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey.

“On February 28, 2023 the IBF ordered Emmanuel Rodriguez and Melvin Lopez to begin negotiations for the vacant IBF Bantamweight Title,” IBF president Daryl Peoples informed all registered promoters in a letter obtained by Boxing Scene. “An agreement could not be reached and on April 4, 2023, Mr. Sean Gibbons, representing Melvin Lopez, requested an immediate purse bid. The IBF is ordering a Purse Bid in these offices on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at 12:00 PM EST.

“Bids must be submitted at 11:45 AM EST to be promptly opened at 12:00 PM.

Puerto Rico’s Rodriguez  (21-2, 13KOs; 1NC) was represented in talks by local promoter Juan Orengo’s Fresh Productions on behalf of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). Nicaragua’s Lopez—now based out of Miami—is guided by longtime William Ramirez, whose team includes Gibbons as an adviser and who was directly involved in talks including his role in calling for a purse bid hearing.

Reports in Puerto Rico indicated that efforts were in place to bring the fight to Rodriguez’s homeland sometime this summer. Going that route will require the right promoter winning the ordered purse bid hearing, or an eleventh-hour deal reached to avoid the session.  

All four bantamweight titles were vacated by former undisputed champion Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21KOs) on January 13. The move came exactly one month after fully unifying the bantamweight division in an eleventh-round knockout of England’s Paul Butler on December 13 in Tokyo.

Rodriguez was the number-two ranked contender by the IBF, on the strength of his one-sided, technical decision win over previously unbeaten Gary Antonio Russell in their title eliminator last October 15 in Brooklyn, New York. The bout was packaged as part of a four-man box-off ordered by the IBF, which included Vincent Astrlolabio’s sixth-round knockout of Nikolay Potapov last December 17 in Las Vegas.

Astrolabio (18-3, 13KOs)—who is also guided by Gibbons—opted to instead pursue the vacant WBO bantamweight title versus Australia’s Jason Moloney (25-2, 19KOs) on May 13 in Stockton, California.

The move left Rodriguez as the highest-ranked contender and in search of a new opponent in a bid to become a two-time IBF bantamweight titlist.

Lopez (29-1, 19KOs) entered the mix, though only after he was previously in line to challenge for the WBA title before a February ratings update bumped him out of contention.

Lopez has won eight in a row since suffering his lone career defeat, a ninth-round knockout of Jose Velazquez in October 2019. His most recent win came in a ten-round decision over Jobert Alvarez last December 11 in Orlando, Florida, as part of a show on the eve of the WBA Centennial Convention. The win should have secured his place in line for a fight with Japan’s Takuma Inoue, Naoya’s younger brother and the leading WBA bantamweight contender.

Takuma Inoue will instead next face Venezuela’s Liborio Solis—a former WBA junior bantamweight titlist—on April 8 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

Rodriguez previously held the IBF title, which he won in a May 2018 victory over Butler. One successful defense foilowed, a split decision victory over Australia’s Jason Moloney in their October 2018 World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) tournament. Rodriguez advanced to the WBSS semifinal round before suffering a second-round knockout loss to Inoue in their May 2019 WBSS semifinal.

The 30-year-old Boricua is 2-1 with one No-Contest in his post-title run. The win over Russell came more than a year after their August 2021 meeting ended in just 16 seconds, when a cut from a clash of heads left Rodriguez unable to continue.

Per IBF rules, the winning bid must be accompanied by a ten-percent deposit at the time of the purse bid hearing. An additional ten percent must be submitted to the sanctioning body no later than five business days after the procedure.

All participants are required to have their annual registration fee paid at least five days prior to the purse bid and are required to pay a $5,000 non-refundable participation fee.

Both parties are permitted to continue negotiations in an effort to reach a deal prior to the purse bid hearing.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox