IBF light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will be filing a medical exception with the IBF for his recent back surgery to allow him to have time to recover before making his mandatory defense against Michael Eifert. Bivol’s defense against Eifert is overdue by a week.
Bivol Seeks Medical Exemption
Bivol’s recent back surgery was an unexpected thing. His doctor recommended it for a problem that he’d had for 10 years. Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) will need 6 to 8 weeks to recover from the surgery. Provided the IBF approves Bivol’s medical exemption, his defense against Eifert may not happen until 2026.
Boxingscene was the one that revealed that Bivol will be asking for a medical exemption. Bivol would still have the WBA and WBO light heavyweight titles if he’s stripped of his IBF belt. Having three of the titles increases the chances of the winner of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight moving up to 175 to face Bivol in a lucrative mega-fight in 2026.
The money Bivol would get fighting the winner of their September 13th clash would likely be far greater than what he’s received in his two contests against Artur Beterbiev.
Controversy Over Surgery Timing
Some fans question the timing of Bivol’s back surgery. They say that if it’s a problem that he had for 10 years, why did he choose to have it now? Some feel that he used the surgery as a strategy to get out of not only IBF-ordered defense against Eifert but also to swerve his trilogy match against Beterbiev.
That would have been a risky one for Dmitry because he already lost to Beterbiev in 2024 and was close to being stopped in the 12th round of their rematch last February.
It was a strange fight in which Beterbiev was dominating Bivol in the first five rounds, but then stopped attacking him from rounds six through eleven. Then in the twelfth, Beterbiev turned on his offense like a light switch and beat the living daylights out of Bivol. You can understand why Bivol wouldn’t want to fight Beterbiev right now if he’s hoping to face the winner of the Canelo-Crawford clash.