Mairis Briedis and Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez will soon learn their fate.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the IBF has scheduled a January 16 purse bid hearing to determine promotional rights for the ordered vacant cruiserweight title fight. Briedis’ team requested an immediate purse bid hearing in lieu of a negotiation period, shortly after both parties were contacted on December 20 to enter talks.

Per IBF Rule 9C, Briedis and Ramirez are now required to honor the ordered fight and purse bid hearing to avoid disciplinary action handed down by the sanctioning body. Any fighter who abandons the purse bid process or does not honor the outcome will receive a demotion in the rankings plus a six-month probation period where they cannot participate in an IBF-sanctioned fight.

The title became available when Sydney’s Jai Opetaia opted to move forward with his December 23 bout versus unranked Ellis Zorro in lieu of a mandatory title defense. Opetaia (24-0, 19KOs) was previously ordered to face Briedis (28-2, 20KOs) in what would have been a rematch to their July 2022 thriller, won by Opetaia via unanimous decision to claim the IBF title.

Brieidis has not fought since that night, but managed to elevate to the mandatory position after Mateusz Masternak and Richard Riakporhe were demoted for failure to proceed with title fights versus Opetaia.

Mexico’s Ramirez (45-1, 30KOs) has fought just once at cruiserweight and not even at the full limit. However, his ten-round win over former WBO light heavyweight titlist Joe Smith Jr. last October was enough to enter the rankings in a lofty enough position to land a title fight at a third weight.

Ramirez previously held the WBO super middleweight title from April 2016 through his December 2018 repeat win over Jesse Hart, after which point he campaigned at light heavyweight. Five wins followed as he advanced to the top of the WBA light heavyweight rankings. He suffered a lopsided defeat to defending WBA titlist Dmitry Bivol in November 2022, and has fought just once since then in the win over Smith in a bout contracted for 193 pounds.

Briedis will attempt to become a four-time cruiserweight titlist.

He won his first belt in an April 2017 unanimous decision over Marco Huck to claim the vacant WBC title. Just one successful defense followed before he lost to Oleksandr Usyk in the semifinal round of the World Boxing Super Series season one cruiserweight tournament.

Briedis returned to the series for season two, which he won outright. He claimed the WBO cruiserweight title along the way in a controversial third-round knockout of Krzysztof Glowacki.

Their June 2019 WBSS semifinal was presented to the WBO in a protest filed by Glowacki, who successfully lobbied for an immediately ordered rematch. Briedis instead relinquished his belt given his contracted commitment to the tournament, which he won along with the IBF belt in a September 2020 decision victory over Yuniel Dorticos.

His third reign ended with the defeat to Opetaia, who only defended his title once. It came in a September 30 fourth-round knockout of England’s Jordan Thompson at OVO Arena Wembley. The bout was an approved voluntary defense, ironically due to Briedis not being ready in time to accept the fight as he was healing from an injury.

The win over Thompson was immediately followed by direct instructions issued to Opetaia to enter negotiations for an ordered rematch versus Brieidis. The two sides failed to reach terms, which prompted the IBF to schedule a November 21 purse bid hearing.

As previously reported by Boxing Scene, the session was canceled after it was learned that Opetaia would land on the December 23 Riyadh card. Briedis—a former three-time cruiserweight titlist— agreed to not object to the fight but who fully expected the mandatory to still take place within the IBF’s imposed deadline.

It proved moot, as Opetaia was never approved to next face Zorro (17-0, 7KOs), an unbeaten but unproven contender who is currently not ranked among the IBF’s Top 15 contenders. That distinction was not factored into the decision made by the IBF championship committee, whose instructions were direct and clear—follow orders or give up the crown.

Opetaia agreed to give up the crown for the considerably more lucrative offer to fight Zorro on the Day of Reckoning card as part of a multi-fight deal. Opetaia won via first-round knockout to defend his lineal championship and Ring Magazine title.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox