The on-again, off-again fight between IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla and mandatory challenger Andy Cruz appears to be on again.

Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn told The Ring that the sanctioning body ordered negotiations to begin this week for the fight to finally come to fruition.

Muratalla's and Cruz’s camps were in talks for their clash to take place on the Ring IV card on November 22 in Saudi Arabia on DAZN, but financial terms couldn’t be reached. Muratalla moved on to negotiations for a fight against Floyd Schofield that hit a wall once he settled in on his fight against Joseph Diaz on November 8.

“The IBF ordered the fight [on Thursday],” Hearn told The Ring. “Muratalla turned down the fight in Saudi Arabia. We had a great financial opportunity to do the fight on the November 22 card but Muratalla couldn't agree to a deal. Now we can have a purse bid and see what it goes for. I don't care, because Andy Cruz is going to fight for a world title. It's a massive opportunity against a great fighter in Muratalla. It's a tremendous fight and we are looking to win that bid and hold that fight in January.”

Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) won the IBF interim lightweight title in May by beating Zaur Abdullaev via unanimous decision. Muratalla, a 28-year-old from Southern California who is trained by Robert Garcia, was elevated to IBF's full titleholder after Vasiliy Lomachenko announced his retirement in June.

Cruz (6-0, 3 KOs) is the IBF's No. 1-ranked challenger. The 30-year-old Cuban and 2020 Olympic gold-medal winner earned his spot with the sanctioning body by knocking out Hironori Mishiro in five rounds in June.

Muratalla is ranked third by The Ring at 135 pounds while Cruz is fifth.