IBF light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev is set to fight on ESPN this spring.
According to Mike Coppinger of Ring Magazine, Beterbiev will defend his IBF title on May 4 on a boxing card aired on ESPN in Stockton, California. Beterbiev's opponent has not been decided, but it is likely to be Sven Fornling.
Artur Beterbiev will defend his light heavyweight title May 4 in Stockton, California, on ESPN, according to industry sources. The likely opponent is Sven Fornling, who is coming off a victory over Karo Murat. Sullivan Barrera was originally being considered but deal fell apart
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) February 20, 2019
What is interesting about the date is that it is the same day as the middleweight title unification between Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs. That fight is scheduled to headline a boxing card from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas being streamed on DAZN in the United States.
Fornling is a 30-year-old boxer from Sweden who sports a 15-1 record with his lone pro loss taking place in 2016 against Yevgenii Makhteienko. Since then, Fornling has won his last five fights, capturing the IBF Baltic and IBO light heavyweight titles. Fornling has not fought since last December when he defeated former world title challenger Karo Murat.
Beterbiev has held the IBF world title since November 2017, but has only fought once since winning the title. Beterbiev's last fought took place this past October on a Matchroom Boxing USA card from Chicago where he knocked out Callum Johnson in the fourth round.
