IBF orders Andy Ruiz vs Filip Hrgovic to purse bid

Several weeks after the IBF made the move to order an interim heavyweight title fight between Andy Ruiz and Filip Hrgovic, the sanctioning body has now arranged for the prospective fight to head to purse bid.

The auction is set to take place on Feb. 28.

This news leaves the status of a few fighters up in the air as Ruiz had previously been ordered to face Deontay Wilder in a WBC final eliminator match. Now, it seems, there are some options on the table that Ruiz will need to weigh out.

It’s expected that there would be much more of a financial reward for Ruiz in a fight against Wilder, but ESPN’s Mike Coppinger believes Ruiz could wait it out a bit to see if someone bids heavy on a Hrgovic bout instead.

Ruiz, 33, is most recently coming off a unanimous decision win over Luis Ortiz last September. Hrgovic, 30, last took a unanimous decision himself when he faced Zhilei Zhang last August.