Keith Idec reports that the IBF has officially ordered newly crowned undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev to face mandatory challenger Michael Eifert in his inaugural defense.
This comes just a day after Dmitry Bivol’s (23-1, 12 KO) team filed an appeal with all four sanctioning bodies to compel an immediate rematch with Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KO), who beat the former WBA champion by razor-thin decision over the weekend.
Eifert (13-1, 5 KO) is the latest beneficiary of the IBF’s pro-trinket policies, having won their meaningless “Inter-Continental” title in a 2022 decision over Adriano Sperandio. This is the same belt that kicked off Beterbiev’s long, awkward saga with Fanlong Meng and funneled Adam Deines into Beterbiev’s waiting jaws.
His only win of note saw him beat a shot Jean Pascal in March of last year.
I’m not one to support ditching belts because of unappealing mandatories, but the Beef gets a pass from me. He’s at the tail end of his career and nobody outside of Eifert’s immediate family would prefer this over a rematch with Bivol or showdown with one of the Davids.