Two IBF purse bids scheduled for Thursday have been canceled following morning developments.
Agit Kabayel has withdrawn from his ordered title eliminator bout with Martin Bakole in the heavyweight division in order to pursue a different matchup.
The IBF ordered Germany’s Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs) and Scotland-based Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) to enter into negotiations in early October for a fight to determine the IBF No. 1 contender, with the winner earning a mandatory position to challenge England’s IBF world heavyweight champion, Daniel Dubois.
The pair were unable reach an initial deal, so purse bids were scheduled for Nov. 5 but then delayed a week at the request of both teams. Now that Kabayel has withdrawn, the IBF will gauge the interest of the contender up next in the organization’s heavyweight rankings, Chinese southpaw Zhilei Zhang (27-2, 22 KOs), to face Bakole.
Dan Rafael first reported the news of Kabayel’s withdrawal Thursday.
Zhang was last in action on a Turki Alalshikh-backed Riyadh Season card in June when he stopped Deontay Wilder in five rounds in the headliner of the 5 vs. 5 event to give Queensberry a 10-0 sweep over Matchroom. In August, Bakole proved too powerful for American heavyweight hopeful Jared Anderson, taking him apart in the first Riyadh Season U.S. card, also in five rounds.
Dubois is expected to defend his heavyweight championship Feb. 22. Frank Warren confirmed to Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” that Joseph Parker is in the running to face Dubois, but in light of Thursday’s news, Kabayel may also be in the mix.
Deal reached for Anthony Cacace vs. Eduardo Nuñez
Belfast’s Anthony Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) and Mexico’s Eduardo “Sugar” Nuñez (28-1, 28 KOs) have reached a deal for their IBF-ordered super featherweight title bout, Uncrowned confirmed Thursday. The date and venue for the contest have yet to be determined.
Nuñez traveled to Tajikistan in February to earn the mandatory spot for Joe Cordina with an 11th-round knockout win over former IBF titleholder Shavkat Rakhimov. However, Cordina lost his title when he was stopped in eight rounds in May on the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk undercard by Cacace, who then inherited Nuñez as his mandatory.
The IBF first ordered Cacace vs. Nuñez in May, a week after Cacace’s win over Cordina, but the parties agreed on a step-aside deal, which allowed Cacace to defend his title against Josh Warrington on the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois undercard and for Nuñez to take a tune-up fight with Miguel Marriaga while receiving financial compensation.
Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) won a comfortable decision over Warrington in September, and Nuñez halted Marriaga in six rounds in his U.S. debut, setting up a fight between the pair.
There were suggestions that Cacace could vacate his belt to move up in weight or fight Britain’s former featherweight champion Leigh Wood in a more lucrative bout, but Cacace’s promoter, Warren, and Nunez’s handler, Eddie Hearn, who are on good terms and share a platform on DAZN beginning next April, seem to have found common ground.
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