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Filip Hrgovic and Andy Ruiz are back in sight of each other.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that an interim IBF heavyweight title fight has been ordered between Hrgovic and Ruiz, with a 30-day free negotiation period allotted for the proposed bout. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement, or even if an agreement is reached, a purse bid hearing will be convened.
Hrgovic is co-promoted by Wasserman Boxing and Matchroom Boxing. Ruiz, on the other hand, is represented by He TGB Promotions, the leading promotional organization under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) umbrella.
Such a fight was called by the sanctioning body almost on the same day, a year ago, when the IBF sought to establish a mandatory challenger for its heavyweight title. He was one of several heavyweights who turned down an offer to face Croatia’s 2016 Olympic bronze medalist because he was unable to move forward with negotiations.
Hrgovic (15-0, 12KOs) faces China’s Zhilei Zhang (21-1-1, 13KOs) in a controversial decision victory in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 20 last year. Survived an opening round knockdown to claim the . The title eliminator was played on the same card as Oleksandr Usyk defended his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles with repeated victories over England’s Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22KOs). Ukraine’s Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) made his first successful defense of the unified title he stole from Joshua in September 2021 in North London.
The IBF originally ordered a mandatory title fight between Usyk and Hrgovic on November 12 last year, with Hulgovic’s side demanding an immediate purse bid hearing. The issue was put on hold until earlier this month, when the IBF filed slight negligence, acknowledging that the WBA would be next in the mandatory challenger rotation.
This development meant that England’s Daniel Dubois, who holds the WBA “regular” heavyweight title, was next in line. Dubois is promoted by Queensbury Promotions with lineal/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24KOs) to target this spring in the Middle East or the UK Fury-Usik undisputed He has a strong impetus for the heavyweight championship.
All was not lost for Hulgovic. Hrugovic was given clearance to contest the interim title while awaiting his title shot.
Lewis (35-2, 22 KOs) has fought just twice since beating Joshua. The Mexican heavyweight shocked the world in June 2019 when he scored four points after recovering from the knockout in his 7th round knockout of Joshua at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. gave. Their December 2019 rematch saw Joshua head for a decision against a heavily out-of-tune version by Lewis.
Since then, there have been wins over Chris Areola in May 2021 and Luis Ortiz on September 4 last year. Lewis rose off the canvas in the second round, dominating Areola at the Fox Sports pay-per-view at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. His 16-month absence from the ring due to injury ended with a victory over Ortiz, who headlined Fox Sports PPV. Crypto in Los Angeles in his com his arena decisive win had a knockdown in two trades.
The win over Lewis came in a sanctioned WBC semi-final title eliminator as part of a four-man box-off. On the other side of the bracket, former WBC champion Deontay Wilder knocked out Robert Helenius in his first round at his center Barclays in Brooklyn, New York on October 15 last year. The hope was to stage a final eliminator for Wilder Lewis, as ordered at the WBC convention in Acapulco, Mexico last November.
Interestingly, Wilder ranks fourth in the IBF rating, one place behind Lewis. Joshua could be in the mix once the Wilder-Lewis pairing is finalized or both Lewis and Wilder decline the offer to fight for the interim IBF title.Joshua will be scheduled at his O2 in London His return to the ring in April has been without an opponent.
Jake Donovan is a Senior Writer at BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
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