IBF championship updates: Brandon Adams-Bakhram Murtazaliev and Andy Cruz-Albert Bell in eliminators

The IBF, at its convention in Vietnam, today ruled over the championship and mandatory statuses in the 17 boxing weight classes.

FightNews reported that an IBF eliminator at junior middleweight was confirmed, with Brandon Adams and Bakhram Murtazaliev set to meet for the right to challenge Josh Kelly, who beat Murtazaliev in January and is plotting a defense against Caoimhin Agyarko in the meantime.

Meanwhile, down at lightweight, Andy Cruz could get another shot at Raymond Muratalla, whom he lost to in January for the vacant IBF title, if he gets past Albert Ball in an eliminator.

Matchroom won bids for Cruz-Ball while Main Events won the right to stage Adams-Murtazaliev.

The IBF championship status, division-by-division, is as follows:

Heavyweight

Champion: Oleksandr Usyk

Frank Sanchez, by virtue of his victory over Richard Torrez, rises to No. 1 and is Usyk’s mandatory.

Cruiserweight

Champion: Vacant

Viddal Riley, the European champion, has been nominated to face the winner of the August 8 eliminator between David Nyika and Floyd Masson for the vacant belt.

Light heavyweight

Champion: Dmitry Bivol

Bivol defends the title against mandatory Michael Eifert on May 30.

Super middleweight

Champion: Osleys Iglesias

Iglesias has a mandatory assignment due in October. Thus, it has been recommended by the IBF that Diego Pacheco and Troy Williamson compete in a final eliminator.

Middleweight

Champion: Vacant

Aaron McKenna and Etinosa Oliha meet for the vacant belt on August 8 with Amari Jones set to be ordered for the winner.

Junior middleweight

Champion: Josh Kelly

Kelly is scheduled to defend against Caoimhin Agyarko, possibly on the Anthony Joshua bill in Saudi Arabia on July 25, while Main Events won the right to stage, with a $361,000 bid, the right to stage the final eliminator between Bakhram Murtazaliev and Brandon Adams.

Welterweight

Champion: Lewis Crocker

Crocker is due to defend against mandatory Liam Paro on June 24 with Paddy Donovan to be installed as No. 1 contender following that.

Junior welterweight

Champion: Vacant

A contest between Lindolfo Delgado and Arthur Biyarslanov will do battle for the vacant title.

Lightweight

Champion: Raymond Muratalla

Muratalla has a mandatory defense due by October and, hence, Albert Ball and Andy Cruz are set to do battle for that position after Matchroom, with a bid of $298,000, won the right to stage the eliminator.

Junior lightweight

Champion: Emanuel Navarrete

Jackson England collides with Sultan Zuarbek on June 26 for the right to challenge the champion.

Featherweight

Champion: Angelo Leo

The mandatory status is still to be decided after existing No. 1 Ra’eese Aleem missed weight before expected challenge to Leo.

Junior featherweight

Champion: Naoya Inoue

A request has been made to the IBF for an interim title to be installed that is decided by a bout between Ryosuke Nishida and Sam Goodman.

Bantamweight

Champion: Jose Salas Reyes

Kenneth Llover, ranked three, and Michael Angeletti, ranked sixth, will battle it out for mandatory status on June 6.

Junior bantamweight

Champion: Willibaldo Garcia

Garcia defends against mandatory Andrew Moloney on June 6. Charlie Edwards and Sikho Nqothole clash on May 29 to determine who will become the next mandatory.

Flyweight:

Champion: Masamichi Yabuki

Yabuki defends against Rene Calixto on June 6 and the winner will have until September 27 to arrange bout against mandatory Miel Fajardo.

Junior flyweight:

Champion: Thanongsak Simsri

Regie Suganob and Sivenathi Nontshinga have been nominated to fight in an eliminator to decide Simsri’s next mandatory, due in January next year.

Strawweight:

Champion: Pedro Taduran

Taduran is obligated to trigger his mandatory, by July 26, with Dianxing Zhu being moved to the No. 1 position.