Fans Angry As IBF Orders Beterbiev vs. Eifert – ‘A Disgrace, We Want The Bivol Rematch’

Boxing fans are unhappy with the IBF after they ordered Artur Beterbiev to defend his Undisputed Light Heavyweight Title against Michael Eifert.
Beterbiev became the undisputed champion with a divisive majority decision win against Bivol. He put his WBO, WBC and IBF titles on the line, beating Bivol to pick up his WBA title. The scorecards produced a lot of criticism, given the mass discrepancy between them: 114-114, 115-113, 116-112. The 116-112 scorecard was particularly controversial, as Bivol only won four rounds. Eddie Hearn came out to describe the scorecards as disgusting.
“You heard Beterbiev’s corner in the 10th round say ‘you have to knock him out to win this fight’. They stood, backed up to their corner – they knew Artur Beterbiev lost this fight. Top Rank [Bivol’s promoters] knew Artur Beterbiev lost this fight. “I’m absolutely baffled and disgusted by a scorecard of 116-112. That judge should never work again. Four rounds [to Bivol] in a fight of this magnitude is disgusting,” Eddie Hearn said
IBF Responds
There was also a mass split among fellow boxing professionals, who had a different take on the result. Carl Froch had Bivol winning, while Claressa Shields had it for Beterbiev. Bivol’s team also filed an appeal against the four sanctioning bodies to demand an immediate rematch. However, the IBF has now acted, leaving question marks over what should happen next.
“Due to the fact that this fight was quite controversial, we proceeded with a rematch request and protest of the decision with all of the sanctioning bodies. And we are still working on the possibility of a review of the 116-112 scorecard,” Vadim Kornilov (Bivol’s manager)
There is the possibility that Beterbiev faces his mandatory, meaning that Bivol will have to wait on the sidelines. That could allow Bivol to have another fight and test out a potential new game plan for Beterbiev. There is also the chance that Beterbiev simply vacates his title and then fights Bivol in the rematch. However, since Bivol is chasing undisputed, that will not likely go down very well. But there could be a step-aside deal that would enable the mandatory to secure a payday while knowing he has that shot against the winner.
IBF’s History
This is something that boxing fans know to well. Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury to become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. He was missing Fury’s WBC belt, but he secured a split decision to become the best heavyweight of this era. They agreed to a rematch for December 21. The IBF ordered Usyk to defend the belt against his mandatory opponent Daniel Dubois.
The Ukrainian reportedly filed an exemption with the IBF requesting that he keep the belt so he could face Fury for undisputed. However, Usyk would later vacate his belt, meaning Dubois became the full champion. Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua in his last fight to retain the belt. Given that undisputed fights do not happen very often, boxing fans had plenty to say about seeing another one disrupted once again.
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