By Igor Lazorin, tass

Russian welterweight contender Konstantin Ponomarev is waiting for a firm date in the fall, for a fight against Mexico's Carlos Ocampo for the right to become the mandatory challenger for the world title of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), which is currently held by undefeated Olympian Errol Spence (22-0, 19 KOs). 

According to Ponomarev's handlers, they are waiting on Top Rank to get the necessary date.

"Top Rank [promotional company] won the bidding [to secure the promotional rights for the] bout, which is scheduled for the fall. Right now Konstantin is waiting for the exact date of the fight to fly out to training camp to work with Abel Sanchez," said the boxer's representative Aleksey Vasilyev.

At one point last year, Ponomarev was ordered to face Spence in a final IBF eliminator, but his team took a pass on the fight.

Spence then fought, and knocked out, Leonard Bundu last August in the eventual final eliminator. That led to the May bout in Sheffield, where Spence dropped and stopped Kell Brook to capture the the IBF title. Spence is expected to make his first defense at some point by the end of the year.

Ponomarev has a record of 32 wins (13 by KO) and no losses. He last saw action back in May, as part of the Terence Crawford-Felix Diaz undercard at Madison Square Garden in New York, where he won an easy unanimous decision over veteran Ed Parades.

The assets of Ocampo include 21 wins (12 by KO) and no losses. The boxer has never fought outside of Mexico. He was in the ring back in January, when he pulled out a unanimous decision victory over Daniel Echeverria. His biggest win to date, was likely a decision nod over Jorge Paez Jr. back in 2015 when Paez was starting to rebuild his career.