LONDON, England - With talks regarding Bakhram Murtazaliev’s mandatory defence against Josh Kelly still progressing well, an official extension on the negotiating period now looks ‘most likely’.

That is the opinion of Kelly’s promoter Kalle Sauerland, who has been communicating with the champion’s promoter Main Events since the IBF ordered the clash for their junior middleweight strap back in August.

At the time, the sanctioning body gave the two sides 30 days, which ended on Friday, September 19, to reach a deal for the fight. However, as that deadline came and went without any purse bid, an official request for a short extension is now expected.

It is understood that there is hope on both sides that a deal will be reached for 32-year-old Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) to defend his title against Kelly (17-1-1, 9 KOs) without the need for a purse bid.

“Given we are deep in talks at the moment, and they are still progressing, I suspect it will be delayed a week so we can try and reach an agreement,” Sauerland told The Ring. “That’s what looks most likely at this point.”

Kelly, 31, is currently No. 3 in the IBF’s ratings but, with the first and second spot not occupied, that made him the champion’s highest ranked challenger.

The Sunderland man is on a seven-fight winning run since his February 2021 defeat to David Avanesyan at Wembley Arena. He most recently stopped 24-1 Flavius Biea in just 121 seconds of their June clash, which was Kelly’s only fight since last September.

Murtazaliev, meanwhile, is The Ring’s No. 4-ranked junior middleweight as a result of his undefeated run to the IBF title. He won the vacant belt by stopping Jack Culcay in the 11th round of their fight last April and defended it once six months later, dropping and stopping Tim Tszyu inside three.

That fight against the Australian challenger, arguably the best win of his career so far, took place in October and he has not boxed since.