The IBF has told Fightful that it has now ordered middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko to have a purse bid later this month.
The purse bid is scheduled to take place at the IBF offices in Springfield, New Jersey on July 23. The purse bid date was sent out to both parties earlier today and the news adds another wrinkle to the mystery that is Alvarez’s next fight, tentatively scheduled for September 14. The IBF had ordered Alvarez to face Derevyanchenko nearly two months ago, but negotiations between the two sides have been almost nonexistent.
Alvarez and promoter Golden Boy Promotions have been negotiating with a number of boxers for the Mexican star’s next fight, the fourth in a multi-year deal with DAZN. Alvarez had been linked to potential fights with the likes of Gennadiy Golovkin, WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade, WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia, WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith and WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
This isn’t the first time Derevyanchenko has been the subject of an IBF middleweight title fight being ordered. Back in 2017, Derevyanchenko became the mandatory challenger for the IBF title, but when the organization ordered Golovkin, the IBF champion at the time, to fight him in 2018, Golovkin chose to fight Alvarez in a rematch last September.
Golovkin was then stripped of the IBF title and the sanctioning body ordered Derevyanchenko to fight Daniel Jacobs for the vacant belt. Jacobs narrowly beat Derevyanchenko by split decision last October at Madison Square Garden, but Alvarez would go on to beat Jacobs this past May. In the meantime, Derevyanchenko would go on to beat Jack Culcay in another title eliminator on April 13.
Should Alvarez decide to pursue any other fight, the IBF would have no problem stripping him of its middleweight title like it did with Golovkin a year ago. If that were to happen, or if Alvarez vacates the IBF title, Derevyanchenko would fight the next highest-ranked available contender, which would actually be Golovkin, for the vacant belt. With a potential trilogy fight against Alvarez possibly not happening next, Golovkin would have to explore other options, which might now include facing Derevyanchenko for the vacant IBF belt.
Alvarez also holds the WBA’s “Super” version of the middleweight title, which he won when he defeated Golovkin in September 2018. Alvarez also held the WBC title up until a few weeks ago after being elevated to Franchise champion, meaning interim titleholder Jermall Charlo would be the sole WBC world champion at 160 pounds.
