Updates On IBF Middleweight And Super Middleweight Title Situations
Two IBF world titles have received an update in regards to purse bids.
The first of the two titles involve the super middleweight title that was recently awarded to former interim champion Jose Uzcategui after James DeGale vacated the title. DeGale and Uzcategui were scheduled to have a purse bid on July 5, but with DeGale vacating the title, that purse bid was obviously canceled.
As such, the IBF ordered Uzcategui to fight Caleb Plant, who is currently the highest-ranked contender at No. 2 of the IBF’s super middleweight rankings. According to ESPN, negotiations are underway, but if the two sides cannot make a deal soon, then a purse bid will be ordered.
The other title with a purse bid update is the middleweight title that is vacant due to the IBF stripping Gennady Golovkin of the belt for not fighting mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko. The IBF then ordered Derevyanchenko to fight former world champion Daniel Jacobs, the next highest-ranked contender.
The two were supposed to have a purse bid on July 5 as well, but that bid has been delayed, usually an indication both sides are close to a deal. The new date for the purse bid will be July 10.
Derevyanchenko has been the organization’s mandatory challenger since last year, but Golovkin has spent the last year preparing for a September 2017 fight against Canelo Alvarez, which ended in a draw, and is currently preparing for a rematch against Alvarez on September 15, 2018. Jacobs last fought in April, beating Maciej Sulecki in Brooklyn in a WBA middleweight title eliminator although Jacobs wouldn’t get a chance to fight for the title, currently being held by Golovkin.
