Erickson Lubin and Ardreal Holmes will have to wait until month’s end to learn their fate.

The Ring has confirmed that the IBF has called a purse bid hearing for the ordered junior middleweight title eliminator. Barring a postponement or cancellation, the session is scheduled for Jan. 28 at IBF headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey.

“On December 13, 2024, the IBF ordered #3 Erickson Lubin and #8 ranked Ardreal Holmes to begin negotiations for the IBF Jr. Middleweight Eliminator for #1,” IBF president Daryl Peoples explained in a ruling obtained by The Ring. “Negotiations were to be concluded on or before December 28, 2024. An agreement could not be made within the time frame allowed.

“The IBF is ordering a purse bid in this office on Tuesday, January 28, 2025 at 12 Noon. Bids must be submitted at 11:45 AM to be promptly opened at 12 Noon.”

As is the case with any ordered fight, the two sides can still attempt to reach a deal all the way up to 15 minutes before the start of the purse bid.

Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs) fights under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) umbrella and is represented in talks by TGB Promotions’ Tom Brown. Holmes (17-0, 6 KOs) is promoted by Salita Promotions.

The winner of the ordered fight will become the mandatory challenger for Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs), The Ring’s No. 3 junior middleweight and current IBF titleholder. The unbeaten Russian is entitled to a voluntary title defense in the interim.

Lubin, 29, has not fought since a Sept. 2023 twelve-round, unanimous decision win over then-unbeaten Jesus Ramos Jr. in Las Vegas. The bout was sanctioned as a WBA title eliminator. However, Lubin—an Orlando, Florida native—was bumped out of contention, as well as The Ring’s top ten, due to inactivity.

Holmes has remained active but still faces a considerable step up in class against Lubin. The 30-year-old, 6’2” southpaw from Detroit, Michigan earned three victories in 2024. He went the full ten-round distance in each of his last two fights, both of which took place at Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan.

Lubin has won eight of his past nine starts since his lone career title fight. It ended in a stunning first-round knockout loss to then-unbeaten Jermell Charlo, who held the WBC 154-pound title at the time of their Oct. 2017 meeting at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The lone defeat over that seven-plus year period was an April 2022 ninth-round stoppage the hands of then=undefeated Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) for the interim WBC 154-pound title. Fundora has since emerged as The Ring’s No. 4 junior middleweight and the current WBC/WBO titleholder.

Should either Lubin or Holmes decline to move forward with the eliminator, they will be dropped outside the top ten and disallowed to participate in any IBF-sanctioned bout for a minimum of six months.