Deal agreed for May 23 return

Dmitry Bivol agrees deal for Oleksandr Usyk undercard return in Egypt

Published on March 10, 2026

Lineal and unified light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol has been out of the ring since his historic rematch win over Artur Beterbiev on February 22, 2025. Many have speculated over whether Bivol’s return would see him fight Beterbiev again or face David Benavidez. IBF mandatory challenger Michael Eifert has also been waiting patiently, and it now appears that Bivol and Eifert have reached an agreement to face each other.

Dmitry Bivol close to return

An IBF purse bid was scheduled for March 10. This was the fourth date after repeated postponements, but now it appears they have finally reached a deal.

Bivol and Eifert appear to have reached a deal, which will see them clash on the Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven undercard at the Pyramids of Giza in Giza, Egypt, as reported by Dan Rafael for Fight Freaks Unite.

Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) vs Eifert will be the Russian’s first bout since his back surgery in August. It was expected we would see Bivol vs Beterbiev 3, even more so after Bivol vacated the WBC belt to pursue the trilogy. That expected third fight failed to materialise following Bivol’s time out of the ring recovering from back surgery.

Who is Michael Eifert?

While everyone in boxing knows Dmitry Bivol, Eifert (13-1, 5 KOs) is somewhat of a mystery. He has been the IBF mandatory since March 2023 and stepped aside to allow Bivol vs Beterbiev 2. The German has not fought since 2024, when he defeated Carlos Eduardo Jimenez. His only defeat came in 2020 against Tom Dzemski, losing by majority decision.

Eifert has not operated at anywhere near Bivol’s level, with his best wins coming in the rematch against Dzemski and a victory over Jean Pascal. 

Many will be wondering how Bivol has maintained his IBF title for this length of time, and it’s because he received a medical exception from the IBF to delay the mandatory due date.