Filip Hrgovic will enjoy the favorable end of the purse split with Andy Ruiz.
That’s if their fight actually sees the light of day.
The IBF Board of Directors voted on Wednesday for the ordered Hrgovic-Ruiz interim IBF heavyweight title fight to carry a 60/40 split in favor of Hrgovic. The ruling comes ahead of the scheduled purse bid hearing due to take place Thursday, 12:00 p.m. ET at IBF headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey.
Vacant title fights normally carry an even distribution of the final purse bid. However, Hrgovic enters as the higher ranked and mandatory challenger, while Ruiz is number three in the most recent IBF rankings. The minimum accepted bid is $100,000 and must be accompanied by a $5,000 nonrefundable participation fee, both of which must be submitted to the IBF no later than fifteen minutes prior to the start of the purse bid hearing.
The winning bidder must also submit a ten-percent deposit of the total amount at the time of the hearing. The amount is to be followed by another ten percent within five business days of the purse bid procedure for a total of a twenty-percent deposit held in escrow.
The fight was first ordered by the IBF on January 11, with both sides given 30 days to reach terms. IBF Rule 16.B covering contestants for interim title fights states that “[if] an interim bout cannot be negotiated, no purse offer will be held. The contestants must agree on the terms of the bout. The winner of the interim title will become the mandatory challenger for the Champion.”
However, an exception was made by the IBF in this situation since “in this case we have two interested parties willing to participate in a bout for the Interim Heavyweight title, but they could not reach an agreement in the time set forth by the IBF.
“According to our rules a purse bid would not be ordered for and interim title. However, because the Hrgovic and Ruiz camps have expressed their interest in this bout taking place we are once again making an exception to our rule and proceeding to a purse bid. Going forward the IBF will deal with interim titles on a case by case basis, and proceed with each one accordingly.”
Croatia’s Hrgovic (15-0, 12KOs) is co-promoted by Wasserman Boxing and Matchroom Boxing, while Ruiz (35-2, 22KOs) is represented by TGB Promotions—the primary promotional outfit under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) umbrella.
It remains questionable as to whether the fight will actually take place.
Ruiz’s side has remained noncommittal to the fight, while Hrgovic is eager to remain active ahead of his due title shot as the IBF mandatory challenger to unified WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13KOs). The 2016 Olympic Bronze medalist for Croatia advanced to the top contender slot following an off-the-canvas, split decision win over China’s Zhilei Zhang (21-1-1, 13KOs) last August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The bout took place on the undercard of Usyk’s repeat win over England’s Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22KOs) to defend the unified titles he claimed from the two-time champ in their first meeting in September 2021 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London.
Hrgovic has been eager to take a stay-busy fight while Usyk was approved to pursue an undisputed championship versus lineal/WBC heavyweight king Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24KOs). The IBF initially ordered a mandatory title fight between Usyk and Hrgovic last November 12, with Hrgovic’s side demanding an immediate purse bid hearing.
The matter was tabled until early January, when the IBF offered a mea culpa in acknowledging that the WBA was next in the rotation of mandatory challengers.
With that came the decision to then proceed with an interim title fight, as to not leave a mandatory challenger without incentive while awaiting a title shot.
“Hrgovic’s camp approached the IBF requesting the opportunity to fight for the Interim IBF Heavyweight Title while waiting for the order of rotation to challenge Undisputed Champion Oleksandr Usyk,” an IBF representative explained to BoxingScene.com. “Being that a mandatory challenger can be waiting two years or so for their turn to fight an undisputed champion, we agreed to order negations for the Interim Heavyweight title.
“Thus, making an exception to our rule of only ordering Interim title negotiations in the case of injury.”
Ruiz (35-2, 22KOs) is currently ranked the number-three IBF heavyweight contender, number-two with the WBC and number one with the WBO. He has fought just twice since his own win over Joshua to briefly serve as WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champ.
The Mexican heavyweight shocked the world, recovering from a knockdown to score four of his own in an historic June 2019 seventh-round knockout of Joshua at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Their December 2019 rematch saw an out-of-shape Ruiz lose the belts to Joshua via unanimous decision.
A pair of decision wins were since claimed by Ruiz, outpointing Chris Arreola in May 2021 and Luis Ortiz last September 4, both in the greater Los Angeles area.
Ruiz survived an early flash knockdown to soundly outpoint Arreola atop a Fox Sports Pay-Per-View from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. A 16-month, injury-induced ring absence ended with his Fox Sports PPV-headlined win over Ortiz, with the two trading knockdowns in his decision victory from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The win over Ruiz came in a sanctioned WBC semifinal title eliminator, as part of a four-man box-off. The other side of the bracket saw former WBC champ Deontay Wilder knock out Robert Helenius inside of one round last October 15 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
With that, Ruiz has the option of pursuing the WBC title in lieu of an interim title fight versus Helenius.
The WBC approved a Wilder-Ruiz final eliminator during its annual convention last November in Acapulco, Mexico. There remains little movement in efforts to advance that fight to the boxing schedule from the discussion stage.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox