A request to postpone the IBF purse bid hearing for Bakhram Murtazaliev vs Josh Kelly has been granted, with both parties seemingly remaining eager to reach a deal.
The two sides have been in negotiations, it seems, for the best part of two months, as it was back in August that the IBF ordered super-welterweight world champion Murtazaliev, 23-0 (17 KOs), to defend his title against Kelly, 17-1-1 (9 KOs).
Prior to that, Erickson Lubin had emerged as the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger at 154lbs, only for the American to instead accept a non-title fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr for November 8.
As the next available contender, Kelly was then awarded the position in place of Lubin, though it would appear that, since then, there has been very little progress by way of negotiations.
At the beginning of last month, the 31-year-old’s promoter, Nisse Sauerland, told Boxing News that his client’s clash with Murtazaliev would almost certainly land in the UK.
In saying so, the Wasserman Boxing promoter hinted that, after several weeks of discussions with Kathy Duva, who represents Murtazaliev, an official fight announcement would come soon enough.
Now over a month removed from that conversation, though, it would seem that the ship has all but sailed for both sides to agree terms.
Yet despite that, Sauerland and Duva have nonetheless successfully pushed back the looming IBF purse bid hearing, which was supposed to take place today, by another week, suggesting that a deal is still in the works.
Earlier today, boxing journalist Dan Rafael wrote on X: “Per Kathy Duva of Main Events, the promoter of IBF 154[lbs] titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev, the purse bid for his mandatory defence vs. Josh Kelly scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed.”
Rafael later added that the bid, should there still be no deal in place, is now scheduled for October 28, while also clarifying that the postponement request was mutually submitted by the fighters’ respective handlers.
Whatever the outcome, it will have been well over a year since Murtazaliev’s last outing, an emphatic third-round finish over Tim Tszyu, by the time he steps through the ropes.
As for Kelly, the Sunderland man has not fought since his first-round stoppage victory over Flavius Biea, a fight designed to dust off the cobwebs, this past June.
