Bakhram Murtazaliev Joins Bivol-Smith Card in Russia Comeback

Bakhram Murtazaliev is coming back, and he's doing it in familiar territory. The former IBF super-welterweight champion (23-1, 17 KO) is set to feature on the December 12 undercard of Dmitry Bivol's light-heavyweight title defense against Callum Smith in Yekaterinburg, Russia, according to reports. It'll be the 33-year-old's first fight since losing his IBF strap to Josh Kelly on January 31.

That defeat still stings. Murtazaliev dropped his belt on English soil via majority decision — a result plenty saw as debatable. He walks back into the ring ranked #7 at 154, and despite the loss he's already been installed as the IBF mandatory challenger, so this is a rebuild with a clear destination in mind.

How Murtazaliev Got His Mandatory Spot

The path is a little convoluted. The IBF ordered a Final Eliminator between Murtazaliev and Brandon Adams (26-4, 16 KO), but Adams pulled out after Main Events won the purse bid in May. That withdrawal handed Murtazaliev the mandatory position by default. Not the cleanest route back to a title shot, but a route nonetheless.

As for who he'll actually face on December 12, nothing's locked. Caoimhin Agyarko has been floated, and fellow Russian Pavel Sosulin is another name in the mix. Either way, expect Murtazaliev — a heavy-handed operator with 17 stoppages on his ledger — to want a statement after 11-plus months out.

The Main Event Still Needs Sign-Off

The headliner is the bigger question mark. Smith (31-2, 22 KO), the WBO mandatory and the world's #2-ranked light-heavyweight, is ending a 22-month layoff to travel to Russia and challenge for Bivol's WBO, WBA and IBF belts. His last outing was a unanimous-decision win over Joshua Buatsi.

Bivol (25-1, 12 KO) has been almost as inactive, boxing just once in that stretch — a unanimous decision over Michael Eifert in May — before elbow surgery two months later. The catch is sanctioning: the WBO refused to green-light the Eifert defense on Russian soil, and RCC Promotions and Matchroom are still waiting to hear whether Yekaterinburg gets the nod this time. Until that lands, the undercard is being built for a fight that isn't officially confirmed.