IBF Orders Unnecessary Heavyweight Title Eliminator

The IBF has already named Derek Chisora as the mandatory challenger for Daniel Dubois’ heavyweight world title — yet for reasons unclear, that fight hasn’t been made.

Now, the sanctioning body has ordered a new final eliminator between Frank Sanchez and Filip Hrgovic. However, neither fighter has done much recently to justify a title shot. Sanchez is currently ranked fourth and is coming off a third-round TKO win over Ramon Olivas Echeverria.

Meanwhile, Hrgovic is sixth, having beaten Joe Joyce in his last bout. All of this comes as reports swirl that Daniel Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk are in talks for an undisputed heavyweight title fight at Wembley Stadium in July.

“We have ordered Sanchez and Hrgovic to begin negotiations for the #1 position. We are scheduled to notify Dubois and Chisora to negotiate for the mandatory defense of the title on April 22,” IBF said