The respective teams for Raymond Muratalla and Zaur Abdullaev remain hard at work to finalize an ordered bout tentatively targeted for this spring.

The Ring has confirmed that talks are ongoing for the interim IBF lightweight title fight. Enough progress was made to where the sanctioning body agreed to postpone a purse bid hearing due to have taken place earlier this week.

A new hearing date was not yet assigned, as Top Rank (Muratalla) and RCC Boxing (Abdullaev) continue to work together to hammer out a deal.

The two sides have been in talks since Jan. 8 when the sanctioning body assigned a 15-day negotiation period. It appeared that things were trending towards locking in an originally targeted April 5 date for the secondary title fight.

However, Top Rank and RCC Boxing could not get the fight over the line in time to satisfy the original IBF deadline.

It appears that the sanctioning body was provided with enough proof to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) is The Ring’s No. 7 lightweight contender and No. 4 with the IBF. Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs) is the IBF’s highest rated lightweight at No. 2, with the No. 1 spot vacant given there is no current mandatory challenger.

Three-division titlist and former RING lightweight champ Vasiliy Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) is the current IBF lightweight beltholder.

However, The Ring’s No. 2 lightweight is still recovering from a back injury and has not fought since last May. That moment came in his eleventh-round knockout of George Kambosos (21-3, 10 KOs) to win the vacant IBF lightweight title last May 12 in Perth, Western Australia.

Abdullaev’s lone defeat came in a Sept. 2019 fourth-round stoppage to Devin Haney in New York City. Nine wins have followed for the Russian contender. The run includes triumphs over former titlists Dejan Zlaticanin, Jorge Linares and Roger Gutierrez.

The fight that put him in IBF title contention, however, was his lone road trip over that stretch. Abdullaev stopped Juan Javier Carrasco in the 12th round of their title eliminator for the No. 2 spot last Oct. 19 in Ciudad Mendoza, Argentina.

Muratalla skyrocketed from budding prospect to rising contender. The Robert Garcia-trained lightweight landed firmly on the contender stage after a May 2023 second-round knockout of former title challenger Jeremia Nakathila in Las Vegas.

Four more wins have followed, including a ten-round decision over former IBF 130-pound titlist Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) last July 13 also in Vegas. Muratalla defeated Jesus A. Perez via second-round knockout in his most recent bout last Nov. 2 in Verona, New York.

If Lomachenko proceeds with his career, he will be ordered to face the Muratalla-Abdullaev winner. Should the two-time Olympic Gold medalist and three-division titlist retire—or simply fail to honor his mandatory—said victor will eventually elevate to full IBF titleholder.