The boxing teams were given 30 days to agree on the organization of the fight. If no agreement has been reached by that time, a competition for promotional applications will determine the organizer of the fight.
James last fought in August when he beat Thomas Dulorme on points. Butaev fought his last bout in December. This was his return to the ring after defeat to Alexander Besputin. The result of this fight was eventually canceled, since the presence of illegal drugs was found in Besputin's doping tests.