Current IBF/WBO/WBA world light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol will make his 2026 return in his homeland of Russia, as he takes on mandatory challenger Michael Eifert in late May.
Dmitry Bivol, the WBO/IBF/WBA unified light heavyweight champion, is set to face his IBF mandatory challenger Michael Eifertin in a main event bout on May 30th. And, the fight will headline an RCC Promotions card in Bivol's homecountry Ekaterinburg, Russia, as was officially announced Monday.
The 35 year old Bivol, 24-1, 12 KOs, further confirmed the date and location on his Instagram page,
“Ekaterinburg, see you soon! On May 30, I’ll be stepping into the ring at the RCC Boxing tournament,” Bivol posted on Instagram. “I promise to put on a beautiful and exciting fight. Two months of intense preparation lie ahead. I’d be delighted to see each and every one of you there!”
The challenger Eifert, 13-1, 5 KOs, is a 28-year-old from Germany, has been the IBF's top contender since the end of 2023. The Bivol defense had previously been considered for the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s unified heavyweight title defense against kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven, scheduled for the previous weekend of May 23rd at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, but will now stand on its own.
Bivol will fight in Russia for the first time since a title defense that he won by 12 round decision against Umar Salamov in Ekaterinburg in December of 2021.
Bivol is coming off a back surgery back in August and been out of action since a majority decision win over Artur Beterbiev in their rematch that won him the undisputed title in February 2025. Bivol went on and vacated the WBC title last year, rather than fighting the "interim" champ David Benavidez.
Back to the German contender, was given assurance by the IBF that he'd be the next opponent for Bivol in exchange for "stepping aside" and allowing the Beterbiev rematch to continue.
Bivol has been recovering from the back surgery and has understood that he'd be facing having to give up a second world championship belt, if he didn't fight Eifert next.
Further of interest, Eifert has been waiting patiently for this championship opportunity and has been very inactive, having not fought since August 2024.
Meantime, Bivol has a strong resume' wth 23 wins as pro, including defeating future hall of famer Canelo Alvarez in a dominant performance over 12 rounds in May of 2022. Beterbiev had defeated him narrowly by split decision in their long awaited first fight in October 2024, which set the rematch early last year into motion,
If Bivol, the heavy favorite, goes on to defeat the little known Eifert, there is a good possibility of a trilogy matchup with Beterbiev being next late this year.