Notebook: Muratalla-Abdullaev interim 135 title bout in works
Eubank-Benn site, undercard set; Kambosos date, likely foe; Omari Jones homecoming card; WBC title updates; Quick hits; Show and tell double
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With IBF lightweight titleholder Vasiliy Lomachenko sidelined for at least the next several months due to a back injury, and having received a medical exemption, the IBF on Jan. 8 ordered Zaur Abdullaev and Raymond Muratalla to meet for the vacant interim title — an occasion on which an interim title is legitimate given Lomachenko’s injury.
Abdullaev promoter RCC Boxing and Top Rank, Muratalla’s promoter, have been negotiating, but on Wednesday, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti notified the IBF that Top Rank was requesting a purse bid to be scheduled because they have been unable to make a deal.
On Friday, the IBF notified its registered promoters that it has scheduled a purse bid for Feb. 4 at 12 p.m. ET at the IBF offices in Springfield, New Jersey, and by video conference. The sides could still make a deal up to 15 minutes before bids are unsealed.
Promoters interested in bidding have to submit a $5,000 non-refundable participation fee.
Top Rank wants to put the fight on and is in a hurry to get it situated because if it winds up as the promoter it plans to slot it as the main event of an April 5 ESPN+ card at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, sources with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite.
Top Rank has a request for that date and site on the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
