Mickey Bey vacated his IBF Lightweight title, thus his belt against Denis Shafikov wont happen according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“The IBF informed us that Mickey Bey is no longer recognized as their lightweight champion. Besides saying thank you, my initial response was what took so long,” Carl Moretti, vice president of Shafikov promoter Top Rank, told ESPN.com.
Shafikov, who will still fight on the July 18 card in a 10-round nontitle bout against an opponent to be determined, has been ordered to face former junior lightweight titlist Rances Barthelemy (23-0, 13 KOs) for the vacant belt, although Barthelemy fought June 21 at junior welterweight and it remains to be seen whether he will come back down in weight to face Shafikov.
“Once he decided to not accept Floyd’s and Leonard’s generous offer to fight on ESPN2 the week of Mayweather-Pacquiao, I knew we we’re headed down this road,” Moretti said. “We move forward to fight Rances Barthelemy for the vacant title, but first we appreciate the IBF letting Denis fight on July 18 in Macau because of what he has to endure through this odyssey.”
