The stakes have been raised for Derek Chisora’s final fight in the United Kingdom.
Chisora is set to square off against Otto Wallin on Saturday night at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester in what will be his 49th professional outing.
The event is being billed as ‘Last Dance’ by Queensberry Promotions.
But Chisora is expected to have one final bow abroad before he calls time on his long and punishing career.
Providing Chisora comes through the contest unscathed, the 41-year-old is hoping to land a high-profile match-up with either Francis Ngannou in Africa or a trilogy with Dillian Whyte.
Yet it isn’t just one last big payday ‘Del Boy’ is fighting for this weekend.
He is also vying for a No.2 spot in the IBF rankings.
At the press conference on Thursday, it was confirmed that Chisora vs Wallin has been upgraded to an IBF eliminator.
Martin Bakole and Efe Ajagba are due to square off in the spring in a final eliminator to determine the mandatory for Daniel Dubois‘ red and gold strap.
But the winner of Chisora vs Wallin will be the highest-ranked contender until Ajagba and Bakole duke it out for the vacant No.1 spot.
Bakole and Ajagba are set to fight on a stacked triple-header, which is pencilled in for May in New York’s Times Square.
Fierce rivals Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia will lock horns in separate bouts on the bill, while Bakole and Ajagba will kick off the card.
Ajagba got the call to face Bakole after Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang passed up on the opportunity.
IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois defends his title against Joseph Parker on February 22 in Saudia Arabia.
And whoever emerges victorious from Bakole and Ajagba’s final eliminator will be next in line to face the title holder.
At the time of writing, the No.1 and No.2 positions in the IBF standings are vacant while Bakole is No.3, Frank Sanchez is No.4, Parker is No.5 and Ajagba is No.6.
Chisora and Wallin feature further down the list at No.10 and No.12, respectively.
