Christian Mbilli and Kevin Lele Sadjo have bought more time to work out a deal for their ordered title eliminator.

The Ring has confirmed that a two-week extension was granted for a fight to determine the IBF’s number-one super middleweight contender. The pair of unbeaten Cameroonian-Frenchmen previously had until Jan. 2 to reach terms and avoid a purse bid hearing.

It was mutually agreed that the extra two weeks was necessary, given the recent holiday season.

Montreal’s Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs), The Ring No. 1 super middleweight, and France’s Sadjo (24-0, 21 KOs) now have until Thursday, Jan. 16 to satisfy the terms of the IBF negotiation period.

Sadjo entered the IBF title eliminator picture after Diego Pacheco (22-0, 18 KOs) passed on the opportunity to face Mbilli.

Pacheco, The Ring No. 3 super middleweight, is already scheduled to next face Steven Nelson (20-0, 16 KOs) on Jan. 25 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

There was concern that the IBF would have to go through its entire list of ranked contenders to find a willing dance partner. The opposite proved to be true, as Sadjo even vacated his European (EBU) title, in lieu of an ordered title defense against France’s Gustave Tamba (20-1, 14 KOs).

The move cleared a path for the more attractive—and lucrative—clash with Mbilli.

Both fighters claimed three wins apiece in their respective 2024 campaigns.

Sadjo began his year with an eighth-round stoppage of Giovanni De Carolis on March 9 in Levallois-Perret, France. The feat marked his sixth consecutive stoppage, a streak which ended four months later in a June 9 twelve-round points win over Durval Elias Palacio in Paris.

A return to the knockout column came in a fourth-round stoppage of Argentina’s Diego Chavez in the fourth round on Dec. 14 in Nassau, Bahamas.

Mbilli outboxed former multiple time title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-6, 10 KOs) over ten rounds on Aug. 17 in Quebec City, Canada.

It snapped a three-fight knockout streak, which followed a ten-round points win over Carlos Gongora (21-1, 16 KOs at the time) last March. A sixth-round knockout of veteran fringe contender Rohan Murdock (27-2 at the time) launch Mbilli’s 2024 campaign.

The winner of Mbilli-Sadjo will become the mandatory challenger to IBF titleholder William Scull (23-0, 9 KOs), a Germany-based Cuban who is The Ring No. 5 super middleweight.

Scull is granted a voluntary title defense in the interim.