IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. is set to make his second defense of his title later this summer.
According to ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Easter Jr. is due to make his second defense against Russia's Denis Shafiko.
The fight was scheduled to go to a purse bid on March 25 but the IBF granted a one-week postponement until April 4. The sides could still make a deal before the promotional rights are auctioned off. Easter won a vacant title by hard-fought split decision over Richard Commey in September and outpointed Luis Cruz in his first defense on February 10.
Shafikov won a split decision against Commey in December in a title eliminator to earn the title shot. Shafikov will be competing for the IBF lightweight title for the third time in his career. Shafikov’s lone two losses as a professional boxer were in IBF world title fights.
Easter Jr. has won all 19 of his professional fights, 14 of which came via knockout. He defeated former IBF super featherweight champion Argenis Mendez in April 2016 which eventually set Easter up for his first world title win against Conmey on the undercard of the Daniel Jacobs vs. Sergio Mora II fight card.
