A fight that that makes perfect sense for Riyadh Season will first have to survive the purse bid circuit.

The Ring has confirmed that the Martin Bakole-Agit Kabayel IBF title eliminator is the subject of a Nov. 7 purse bid hearing. The sanctioning body's highest two ranked heavyweight contenders failed to reach common ground for their ordered bout within the negotiation period.

Bakole (21-1, 16 knockouts) and Kabayel (21-0, 15 KOs) are both Riyadh Season regulars. Such is also the case for IBF heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21KOs), for whom the winner will become the mandatory challenger.

A deal can still be reached until just before the start of the purse bid session. Should the fight head to a purse bid, Bakole and Kabayel will split the pot 50/50 as the No. 3 and No. 4-rated heavyweights. The No. 1 and No. 2 slots are vacant; the IBF reserves those positions for contenders who win official eliminators.

Kabayel is The Ring's No. 5 heavyweight contender; Bakole is just below him at No. 6.

Both contenders—and Dubois, for that matter—have seen their stock soar on Riyadh Season-branded events.

Bakole has won his last ten starts, with a huge career spike in his past four contests.

The run began with a May 2022 road victory over 2016 Olympic Gold medalist and then-unbeaten Tony Yoka in Paris. In his most recent start, Bakole took down another undefeated rising heavyweight in Jared Anderson. Their Aug. 3 battle saw Bakole score a stunningly dominant fifth-round knockout on Riyadh Season's U.S. debut show in Los Angeles.

Ten months prior, Bakole knocked out Carlos Takam in the fourth round of the maiden Riyadh Season card last October 28. The 32-year-old Scotland-based Congolese heavyweight suffered his only defeat in an Oct. 2018 injury stoppage to Michael Hunter.

Kabayel scored back-to-back career best wins in Riyadh.

The 32-year-old German heavyweight scored an upset fourth-round stoppage of Arslanbek Makhmudov (18-0, at the time) last Dec. 23 at Kingdom Arena.

The same venue hosted his most recent outing, a seventh-round stoppage of Frank Sanchez (24-0 at the time). Kabayel's big win came on the undercard of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury undisputed heavyweight championship clash.

It's another heavyweight title now in the sights of both fighters, however.

Dubois claimed the interim IBF belt in a June 1 stoppage win over previously unbeaten Filip Hrgovic at Kingdom Arena. He received the upgrade to full titlist when Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) vacated the belt to proceed with plans for a Fury rematch.

The reign was fully validated in Dubois' first title defense. An all-British affair saw the 27-year-old Londoner demolish former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua (28-4, 24 KOs). Their Sept. 21 meeting in front of a record boxing crowd at Wembley Stadium saw Dubois score four knockdowns in a fifth-round knockout.

It was the third straight stoppage victory for Dubois following a ninth-round knockout loss to Usyk last August. The resurrection began with a tenth-round stoppage of unbeaten Jarrell Miller last Dec. 23 in Riyadh.