Etinosa Oliha’s latest effort to proceed with a title eliminator has landed right back at the purse-bid table.

BoxingScene has confirmed that the negotiation period for Oliha’s IBF-ordered middleweight clash with Austin “Ammo” Williams, 18-1 (12 KOs), has ended without a deal in place. The matter will head to a purse-bid hearing scheduled for April 22, as a result.

Oliha is promoted by Agon Sports; Williams is with Matchroom Boxing and managed by Sam Katkovski. The two sides were summoned to enter talks on March 19, with a 15-day period assigned to work out terms. The April 3 deadline came and went without any sufficient updates, before the IBF informed all parties this week of next steps.

Should the bout move forward, the winner will become the IBF mandatory challenger. Janibek Alimkhanuly, 16-0 (11 KOs), holds their belt along with the WBO title, both of which he defended via a sensational fifth-round knockout of the then-unbeaten Anauel Ngamissengue on April 5 in Astana, Kazakhstan. 

Meanwhile, Italy’s Oliha is precisely in the same place he was with his previously ordered bout. 

The unbeaten middleweight contender was on course earlier in 2025 to next face Kyrone Davis, 19-3-1 (6 KOs). The two sides previously reached an agreement for a fight to have taken place in the spring in Italy. 

Davis fights under the banner of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), whose handlers sought to have the fight relocated to the United States. The development was enough for the IBF to no longer consider Davis as eligible for the fight. 

An even stranger development involved Davis announcing his retirement through social media, only to walk it back a few weeks later. The Delaware native is rumored to be on course to return on the undercard of the May 31 Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo PBC on Prime doubleheader in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That move has opened an opportunity for another American middleweight to enter the equation. 

The timing of the newly ordered bout proved to be perfect for Williams, who is coming off of a hard-fought victory over Patrice Volny. The Milwaukee-bred, Houston-based contender earned a unanimous decision victory over 12 rounds in March in the main event of a Matchroom promotion in Orlando, Florida. 

It was the second consecutive victory for the 28-year-old Williams after his lone career defeat. He was stopped in the 11th round by Hamzah Sheeraz, 21-0-1 (17 KOs), in June in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Oliha, 26, moved into contention for a title fight after a third-round knockout of Alexander Pavlov in September at AGON Sportspark in Charlottenburg, Germany. 

It was the fifth consecutive fight in Germany for Oliha, given AGON’s home base. However, the plan was to return to Italy for the final elimination bout had the Davis fight proceeded. 

Any such hopes to revisiting that strategy will depend on the outcome of Tuesday’s purse-bid hearing.

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on and .