Main Events, Murtazaliev’s promoter, made the winning bid of $361,000 on Wednesday to host an IBF title eliminator between the pair. A date hasn't been determined, but The Ring has learned the bout will take place this summer in Russia.

News of a hometown fight, which emerged during the IBF convention in Vietnam, will be music to the former champion's ears. The Grozny, Russia native hasn't boxed at home since a first-round knockout of Bruno Romay in April 2019.

Should things work out in his favor against Adams, Murtazaliev (23-1, 17 KOs) could force Josh Kelly into a rematch after losing a close majority decision against the Brit on January 31, relinquishing his 154-pound crown.

Adams (26-4, 16 KOs) figures to be an underdog, but will fancy his chances of an upset win. The 36-year-old decisively beat Serhii Bohachuk on the Canelo-Crawford undercard last September and was set to face Caoimhin Agyarko in a final eliminator before falling ill on the eve of their proposed April 11 bout.

Aaron McKenna is set to face Etinosa Oliha on August 8 for the vacant IBF middleweight title as former unified beltholder Janibek Alimkhanuly was stripped by the sanctioning body three months after failing a drug test.

McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs), The Ring's No. 6-rated middleweight, will end more than a year-long absence after a career-best points win over faded former champion Liam Smith last April. Their matchup will be the chief support preceding Callum Walsh's return on a Zuffa card in Ireland, though Walsh's opponent has not been announced.

Oliha (22-0, 10 KOs) similarly spent most of his 2025 campaign on the sidelines. He scored a third-round stoppage of Croatian journeyman Ivan Njegac in September, two months after withdrawing from his title eliminator against Austin 'Ammo' Williams during fight week after an eye issue was discovered during his pre-fight medical exams.

Oliha, The Ring's No. 5-rated middleweight, sits a place above McKenna in the IBF rankings at No. 2 and the winner will be mandated to face Amari Jones, who scored a third-round finish of former champion Vincenzo Gualtieri last weekend.

August 8 is set to be a busy day across the globe, as former title challenger David Nyika and Floyd Masson will box in a final eliminator for the vacant IBF cruiserweight crown.

The pair will headline an event at the Eventfida Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, with the winner then ordered to face Viddal Riley, its No. 2-rated contender, for the title stripped from Ring champion Jai Opetaia in March.

Riley (14-0, 7 KOs) scored a career-best win last time out, logging a 12-round unanimous decision masterpiece over Mateusz Masternak in April before exploring a vast array of options available to him. Opetaia, a two-time IBF beltholder at 200 pounds, scored a fourth-round finish of Nyika in January 2025 and has been exploring a matchup with David Benavidez, who unified the WBA/WBO cruiserweight titles earlier this month.

Skye Nicolson is now the outright owner of the WBC junior featherweight title.

The popular 30-year-old held the interim version while Ellie Scotney was in possession of the full title. However, Scotney opted to move up to the 126-pound division, leaving a void Nicolson (16-1, 3 KOs) will now occupy.

The Australian native won’t worry about finding an opponent for her first full title defense, either. Matchroom Boxing, her promoter, announced Wednesday that terms have been reached for the former Olympian to face former two-weight world champion Miyo Yoshida (19-5, 1 KOs) next with further information coming at a later date.