‘It’s totally insane’: Inside the IBF’s continued refusal to get out of its own way

Insane.

Ludicrous.

Silliness.

Those were words perturbed promoter Bob Arum used Thursday when asked by Uncrowned about the IBF’s insistence that its light heavyweight champion, Artur Beterbiev, makes his next title defense against anonymous mandatory challenger Michael Eifert. The IBF issued its order Thursday morning, barely four days after Beterbiev became boxing’s first fully unified 175-pound champion of the four-belt era, because it is the IBF’s turn in the light heavyweight division’s mandatory rotation, which includes the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO.

It has become a common, counterproductive occurrence for one of boxing’s four recognized sanctioning organizations to order a mandatory defense against an obscure opponent soon after an undisputed or unified champion is crowned in a given division. Those fights typically are mismatches that cost promoters, in this case Arum’s Top Rank Inc., and television or streaming partners substantial sums of money that could be better spent servicing boxing fans who are regularly forced to settle for fights they don’t want to watch.

“It’s totally insane,” Arum told Uncrowned. “Every promoter works hard to get their fighter to be undisputed. And then the organizations, particularly the IBF, order mandatories and it becomes impossible. It’s like a burden to be undisputed. I mean, the idea that you have to fight some non-entity to keep your title, after you’ve won the biggest fight of your career, seems crazy to me.”

The 92-year-old Arum, whose company promotes Beterbiev, has various more profitable options for the Russian knockout artist. An immediate rematch with Dmitriy Bivol, whom Beterbiev beat by majority decision Saturday night at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, makes the most sense from business and competitive standpoints.

Beterbiev’s victory over the previously unbeaten Bivol is commonly considered debatable. Bivol — whose team petitioned the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO on Wednesday to order a rematch — Beterbiev, and Saudi Arabian fight financier Turki Alalshikh agreed in the emotional aftermath of their title unification fight that they should run it back next.

Unless superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez alters his plans and wants to challenge Beterbiev, a rematch versus Bivol is Beterbiev’s most lucrative option. Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) and Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) earned approximately $10 million apiece for their first fight, and it was close and entertaining enough to warrant a second bout.

Arum will advise Beterbiev against facing Germany’s Eifert (13-1, 5 KOs), a light-punching opponent who upset past-his-prime former WBA/WBC champ Jean Pascal (37-7-1, 21 KOs) by unanimous decision in March 2023 in Pascal’s hometown of Laval, Quebec, Canada.

Eifert fought only once since he beat Pascal 18 months ago, but risking his mandatory position against a more imposing opponent than 39-year-old Venezuelan veteran Carlos Jimenez (13-6, 12 KOs), who he knocked out in August, wouldn’t have been wise. His hiatus was also extended because Beterbiev suffered a knee injury that postponed the Bivol bout four more months.

“We have to talk to Beterbiev,” Arum said. “If we do the fight [with Eifert], it’s like a two-round fight. It’s a joke. This guy has never fought anybody. You know, if it was a mandatory with a (David) Benavidez or a fighter of that magnitude, that would be different. So, now you tell this fighter, ‘Don’t waste your time fighting a non-entity. Just give up the title.’ But he says, ‘Finally, I’m undisputed.’ This is ludicrous. They say, ‘Well, these are our rules.’ Well, change the f*cking rules.”

Those that run the Springfield, New Jersey-based governing body are understandably sticklers for rules because of the infamous IBF bribery scandal that led to the imprisonment of late IBF founder Bob Lee.

As its president, Lee extorted managers and promoters, including Arum, to fix rankings and sanction bouts. Lee, who died March 25 at the age of 91, was found guilty on six of 38 charges at his racketeering trial in August 2000 and served 22 months in prison.

The FBI for a time stationed a monitor inside the IBF’s offices after a lengthy investigation exposed its illegal business practices.

Daryl Peoples, longtime president of the IBF, rarely comments publicly regarding its business decisions. He declined to be interviewed by Uncrowned for this story.

Enforcing Rules To Benefit Saturday’s Fighters

Though ordering Beterbiev vs. Eifert drew widespread criticism, abiding by its rules — which the IBF does more consistently than the WBA, WBC, and WBO — actually will lead to two of its mandatory challengers fighting for IBF belts Saturday in bouts that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.

Russia’s Bakhram Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) makes his first defense of the IBF junior middleweight title against Australia’s Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) in the 12-round main event of Saturday’s three-bout Premier Boxing Championship stream from Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida (Prime Video; 8 p.m. ET). Murtazaliev waited more than four years and accepted four step-aside fees and accompanying tune-up fights that earned Murtazaliev and promoter Main Events close to $2 million in combined compensation packages while allowing IBF champs Jeison Rosario and later Jermell Charlo to participate in title unification fights.

Murtazaliev made the most of his long-awaited championship chance April 6 in Berlin, where he knocked out Germany’s Jack Culcay (33-5, 14 KOs) to win an unclaimed championship Charlo vacated. Murtazaliev was required to make his first IBF title defense versus Tszyu, again because the IBF followed its rules.

Tszyu lost the WBO junior middleweight title to California’s Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) in his most recent bout, but he is rated fourth among the IBF’s 154-pound contenders and accepted this title shot after third-ranked Orlando native Erickson Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs) turned it down due to a hand injury. The top two spots in the IBF’s rankings are unoccupied, another peculiar practice predicated on scheduling elimination matches, which made Murtazaliev fight the next available contender.

“If it were up to me, of course I wanted to fight [Charlo], especially because he had all four belts,” Murtazaliev explained to Uncrowned of his championship odyssey. “I could’ve become the undisputed world champion. But everything is in God’s hands. It’s God’s will. Boxing is a business. And maybe it’s not the cleanest business. But I waited and my opportunity came. I am very thankful for the IBF, but I waited for four and a half years. I hoped they could’ve made it a little bit sooner, but I’m happy to be their champion.”

Championship unification bouts trump mandatory bouts according to the IBF’s rules as long as the IBF doesn’t first order a purse bid for a required title defense.

That rule enabled Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury to fight to become boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era May 18. Ukraine’s Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) won a split decision and then immediately gave up the IBF belt, now owned by England’s Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), after he defeated Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs), whom Usyk will fight again December 21 at Kingdom Arena.

The tendency of sanctioning organizations to strip undisputed champions frustrates fans who want one champion in each of boxing’s 17 weight classes.

For fighters like Murtazaliev, William Scull, and Vladimir Shishkin, the IBF’s penchant for following its rules benefits them and those who have guided their careers.

Cuba’s Scull (22-0, 9 KOs), who has long been the No. 1 contender for the IBF super middleweight title Alvarez held until recently, fights the second-ranked Shishkin (16-0, 10 KOs) on Saturday night at Stadthalle Falkensee in Berlin for the IBF’s vacant 168-pound crown.

The IBF stripped Alvarez of that title in July when he made it known that he would make a voluntary defense against Edgar Berlanga rather than a mandated defense versus Scull. Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) beat Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) by unanimous decision September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Dmitriy Salita, Shishkin’s promoter, went 35-2-1 (18 KOs) primarily as a junior welterweight from 2001-13. Salita therefore takes a fighter’s mentality toward holding sanctioning organizations accountable and appreciates what the IBF has done for several of the boxers he represents.

Arum was Salita’s first promoter, but Salita disagrees with his Hall of Fame colleague. Eifert’s résumé as a number one contender clearly is questionable, but Salita respects that the IBF doesn’t allow the sport’s power brokers to dictate its practices.

It is particularly commendable, Salita and others pointed out, because the IBF oftentimes costs itself hundreds of thousands of dollars in sanctioning fees by ordering such lower-profile fights as Scull vs. Shishkin, when it could’ve granted Alvarez an exemption and sanctioned his fight with Berlanga. Champions and challengers typically pay the IBF three percent of their purses for title bouts.

“That’s the great thing about being obedient to the rules and being objective, that you get exactly the right result,” Salita told Uncrowned. “The fact that people get upset — the money people in the sport become upset or the biggest stars in the sport become upset — that means that they are doing the right thing. Because the right thing is not always popular, but it has to be consistent. The IBF, through thick and thin, has shown that they’re consistent.

“In a way, this Shishkin versus Scull fight is a prime example of that because Canelo Alvarez, without a doubt, is one of the highest-earning athletes in all of sports, not just boxing. … If there were more clarity on what the rules are, this sport would be better off.”

Ordering A Ridiculous Rematch

Three weeks after Scull vs. Shishkin and Murtazaliev vs. Tszyu, however, the most egregious example in recent history of the IBF abiding by its rules to a fault will unfold at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. That’s where Jaron “Boots” Ennis, an emerging star in his hometown, will defend his IBF welterweight title against Ukraine’s Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9 in an utterly unnecessary rematch DAZN will stream worldwide.

Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs, 1 NC) dominated Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs), won all 12 rounds according to each judge, and claimed the IBF interim welterweight title in January 2023 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

As Ennis ascended, the gifted Philadelphia native eventually was elevated to full 147-pound champion by the IBF. Meanwhile, Chukhadzhian, comparatively quietly, won an IBF elimination match against Italy’s Pietro Rossetti (18-3, 8 KOs) almost a year ago and was later declared its mandatory challenger for Ennis’ championship.

Not only did the IBF force Ennis to either box Chukhadzhian or risk getting stripped, it ignored the request of Matchroom Boxing, which became Ennis’ promoter after Chukhadzhian won the aforementioned eliminator, to adjust its standard 65-35 purse split for mandatory matchups.

“We wrote to the IBF,” Matchroom director Eddie Hearn informed Uncrowned, “and said, ‘Look, you cannot possibly think that this is a 65-35 purse bid, right? Boots has just sold 15,000 tickets [July 13 at Wells Fargo Center], he’s the number one fighter in the division, blah, blah, blah.’ And they wrote back and said, ‘No, it stands, 65-35.’

“So, things like that, I feel like sometimes the IBF are lacking a little bit of commercial common sense to move the sport forward. But at the same time, at least if you know you are their number one mandatory challenger, that you’ll get your title shot.”

DAZN, Matchroom’s streaming partner, will pay more than $2.5 million combined for its maligned main event between Ennis and Chukhadzhian. Ennis didn’t seriously consider relinquishing his IBF belt because he wants to become the fully unified welterweight champion prior to moving up to the 154-pound division.

Odd Decisions Damage Credibility

Arum, Hearn, and fellow promoter Lou DiBella are among the industry veterans who’ve questioned the IBF’s rankings, not just its consistent enforcement of its mandatory defenses. The top 15 rankings of the WBA, WBC, and WBO are also littered with unproven contenders or worse, but Chukhadzhian vs. Rossetti is impossible to justify as an eliminator that determined a number one contender in the welterweight division.

The IBF also recently refused to sanction a fight for its junior lightweight champion, Anthony Cacace, against Josh Warrington as a title bout. England’s Warrington (31-4-1, 8 KOs), who lost by unanimous decision September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London, is a former IBF junior featherweight and featherweight champion who paid well into six figures in sanctioning fees as a two-division IBF champ before his points loss to Northern Ireland’s Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs).

“One thing that I do respect and admire about the IBF, even when things don’t go my way, is the way that they don’t deviate from the rules,” Hearn said. “I mean, every governing body will pretty much have a clause within their rules that allows them to do whatever they want, at their discretion, anyway. But certainly, with the IBF’s history, they are tighter on those rules. I think that one of the issues I have with the IBF — again, admirable that they follow their rules — but sometimes you need just a little bit of common sense. And, for me, the rankings aren’t really a true representation of the division.”

DiBella does plenty of business with Arum’s company, but he disagrees as well with the legendary promoter’s take on Beterbiev vs. Eifert. The former HBO Sports executive’s company, DiBella Entertainment, promoted the card headlined by Eifert’s win against Pascal.

He appreciates that Eifert at least remains in position to earn either a career-high purse for battling Beterbiev or some step-aside money if he opts to allow a Beterbiev vs. Bivol rematch before he gets his title shot. Beterbiev could decide to give up the IBF belt, which wouldn’t diminish a second Bivol bout because they are generally regarded as the sport’s top two light heavyweights.

“People are trying to do the rematch, but guess what?,” DiBella told Uncrowned. “The IBF should call for the mandatory. And if Eifert is financially satisfied [to step aside], the IBF shouldn’t stand in the way. But Eifert has a right after his performance against Pascal, in what was a very spirited fight, where he looked awesome, honestly, to make a living. I didn’t see him look that good on tape before that night and I haven’t seen his last fight. But I can tell you that I was there that night, and he looked like a world-class, mandatory kind of guy.

“Now, I fully understand the effort to take the controversy out of Beterbiev-Bivol and do the fight again, when it will never be bigger. I thought Bivol won the fight. I’m completely on board with Bivol getting his rematch opportunity. The IBF ordering the mandatory is not trying to c*ck-block the fight. What it is doing is protecting a fighter [Eifert] who followed the rules. And I am 100% behind protecting that fighter. He’s not my fighter, so I have no skin in the game. It’s just if we’re not protecting that guy, how can anyone earn a living in this sport?”