Ukrainian middleweight Sergiy Derevyanchenko (11-0, 9 KOs) will fight in January or February 2018. Sergiy is a mandatory challenger for the IBF belt, which belongs to Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs), but the International Boxing Federation allowed Golovkin to delay with the mandatory title defense for the sake of rematch with Saul Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs). Their first battle ended in a controversial draw.
However due to the long negotiations Derevyanchenko most likely will hold an interim fight.