Significant progress was made in an ordered bout to determine the next IBF mandatory middleweight challenger.

The Ring has confirmed that the respective representatives for Etisona Oliha and Kyrone Davis were able to reach an agreement for their IBF-ordered middleweight title eliminator.

Fight date and location specifics were not immediately made available as this goes to publication. However, the matter was far enough along for the IBF to cancel a purse bid hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday.

Oliha (21-0, 9 KOs), The Ring’s No. 6 middleweight, is promoted by AGON Sports. Davis (19-3-1, 6 KOs), No. 7 at 160 by The Ring, was represented in talks by TGB Promotions on behalf of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC).

The winner of the forthcoming bout will become one of two sanctioning body mandatories in waiting for Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1 middleweight. A voluntary defense is afforded Alimkhanuly, who is still attempting to finalize a challenger for his April 5 homecoming in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Oliha and Davis entered the mix as the No. 2 and No. 5 IBF middleweight contenders, respectively. The top spot is vacant, a common practice by the sanctioning body which symbolizes the need to crown an official challenger through a final elimination bout.

Italy’s Oliha—who primarily fights in Germany where AGON Sports is based—defeated Alexander Pavlov (22-4, 16 KOs) in an IBF semifinal eliminator last Sept. 14 in Berlin.

Ranked in between Oliha and Davis are Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 KOs) and Shane Mosley Jr. (22-4, 12 KOs). Davis was able to qualify for the elimination bout due to the unavailability of the other two middleweights.

Eubank Jr., The Ring’s No. 5 middleweight, is set to face fellow second-generation contender Conor Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) on April 26 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London.

The fighting plans of Mosley Jr., The Ring’s No. 9 middleweight, aren’t immediately clear as this goes to publication.

Davis punched his way into contention after an upset ten-round decision over then-unbeaten Elijah Garcia (16-0 at the time) last June 15 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ring’s No. 9 middleweight has now won three straight since a Nov. 2021 stoppage defeat to David Benavidez in a last-minute assignment at super middleweight.