The IBF mandatory title fight was finalized before the scheduled purse bid and will take place on the Usyk-Verhoeven card in Egypt
Dmitry Bivol will defend his IBF light heavyweight title against Michael Eifert on May 23 in Egypt. The fight was finalized before the IBF’s scheduled purse bid.
The light heavyweight title fight is now planned for May 23 in Egypt as part of the DAZN pay-per-view card headlined by Oleksandr Usyk’s WBC heavyweight title defense against kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven. The event is scheduled to take place at the Pyramids of Giza.
Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) had been ordered by the IBF to defend his title against Eifert (13-1, 5 KOs) following the German contender’s victory in the organization’s final eliminator. Negotiations between the camps stretched across several months, forcing the IBF to set a purse bid deadline before both sides informed the sanctioning body that an agreement had been reached.
The defense brings an end to a process that had been delayed repeatedly since late 2025. Several extensions were granted while the teams continued negotiations, leaving the IBF to schedule a purse bid before the final agreement removed the need for the bidding process.
Placing Bivol-Eifert on the May 23 show adds a traditional championship fight to an event already drawing attention for its unusual main event. Usyk will defend the WBC heavyweight title against Verhoeven, who enters the bout after a long career as one of kickboxing’s most recognizable champions and will be making his professional boxing debut.
Bivol’s defense against Eifert gives the card a conventional title fight alongside the crossover attraction at the top of the bill. The fight satisfies the IBF mandatory obligation for Bivol as champion.
A long wait for the mandatory challenger finally has a date attached to it, even if the setting around the Pyramids will make the defense one of the more unusual championship events on this year’s boxing calendar. The location alone will make the event one of the year’s most unusual championship cards.