By Daniel Mukenya The IBF has ordered Artur Beterbiev to defend his undisputed championship against Germany’s Michael Eifert. This has affected the anticipated

Artur Beterbiev has been ordered to defend his IBF light-heavyweight title against the mandatory challenger, a day after Dmitry Bivol appealed to the four sanctioning bodies to back an immediate rematch.

The main reason why Dmitrii Bivol sought to secure an immediate rematch with Artur Beterbiev has now come to light. The Ring has confirmed that Beterbiev was ordered by the IBF to next face Germany’s Michael Eifert,

Bivol was class in defeat, as expected, and praised Beterbiev; they had shared a unique respect for each other during the months and months it took to finally get the pair in the ring. They had also shared six years and nine months as world champions before the final bell separated Bivol from his belt.

The IBF has thrown a wrench into plans for a rematch between undisputed four-belt light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol by ordering the

Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol's undisputed light heavyweight title rematch hit a major hurdle on Thursday after the IBF ordered Beterbiev to face its mandatory challenger, Michael Eifert.

Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) made history on October 12 by defeating Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) for the undisputed light heavyweight crown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Dmitry Bivol’s team have formally submitted a request for an immediate rematch against Artur Beterbiev after his highly controversial world title defeat. Bivol and Beterbiev met in Saudi Arabia in a historic undisputed title showdown to crown the light heavyweight division’s first sole champion since Roy Jones Jr 25 years ago.