Dmitry Bivol wants to attack again in the spring. After a month-long break, the IBF mandatory fight against Michael Eifert is in focus.
Dmitry Bivol is working on his return to the ring following his back surgery in August. The lineal and unified light heavyweight world champion plans to return to training in February and is targeting a comeback fight in spring 2026. The focus is on the long overdue IBF mandatory fight against German challenger Michael Eifert.
“Dmitry wants to start training again in February,” explained manager Vadim Kornilov. “If everything feels good, we want to return with the IBF Mandatory. It’s not yet possible to say whether his back is already at 100 percent.” In recent weeks, Bivol has only taken up light training and worked carefully on the punching bag again for the first time. The 34-year-old Russian only contested one fight in 2025 – but it was a tough one. In February, Bivol won a high-class rematch against Artur Beterbiev in Riyadh by Majority Decision and was crowned the undisputed light heavyweight champion. It was the most significant victory of his career in both sporting and financial terms.
Since then, however, a protracted back problem has forced him to take a break. Now the end of the rehab phase seems to be in sight. If the planned build-up goes smoothly, the mandatory fight against Michael Eifert in April could mark the restart. For Bivol, it would not only be the first title defense after his Undisputed success, but also an important step towards further consolidating his position at the top of the weight class.
For Michael Eifert, it could finally come to a world championship fight after an eternal wait. “Two and a half years of waiting is really incomprehensible in a boxer’s career and is almost unbearable, even with a lot of patience,” grumbled SES boss Ulf Steinforth.
Text by Robin Josten