EMX Sports, which promotes Chukhadzhian, submitted the winning bid of $311,000 on Tuesday for his IBF welterweight title eliminator against Paddy Donovan. Matchroom, Dononvan’s promoter, was the only other bidder ($200,000).

BoxingScene.com first reported that EMX Sports won this purse bid.

Although Donovan (14-2, 11 KOs) and Matchroom were outbid, he’ll still receive the larger financial piece of the pie since he’s the higher-ranked fighter. Donovan is ranked No. 3 by the IBF and Chukhadzhian is No. 5.

Because of that, Donovan will receive 60 percent of the purse, $186,600. Chukhadzhian (26-3, 14 KOs) will get the remaining 40 percent, $124,400.

The winner of their bout will grab the No. 1 spot in the IBF rankings, which is currently vacant, and become the mandatory challenger for Lewis Crocker. The 29-year-old champion was originally set to defend his throne against Liam Paro (27-1, 16 KOs), the sanctioning body’s No. 2 contender, on January 16, before he withdrew due to a hand injury. Although an announcement hasn’t been officially made, they will likely fight in the spring.

If Ireland’s Donovan goes on to beat Chukhadzhian, he would land a third fight against Northern Ireland’s Crocker. In their first meeting, which took place last March in Crocker’s hometown of Belfast, Donovan was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before getting disqualified in the eighth round for landing a punch after the bell.

In their immediate rematch September 13, also in Belfast, Crocker (22-0, 11 KOs) dropped his man twice on his way to winning a split decision and IBF belt vacated by Jaron “Boots” Ennis three months earlier.

Chukhadzhian is looking for a third shot at a version of the IBF 147-pound title.

Ennis decisively defeated the Ukrainian contender by unanimous decision in January 2023 and again in November 2024. In the first fight, Ennis defended the interim title. In their seemingly unnecessary rematch, Ennis defended the full championship belt.

Philadelphia’s Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs, 1 NC) gave up The Ring, IBF and WBA welterweight titles when he moved up to the junior middleweight division nine months ago.