AGON Sports has gained control of the Esquiva Falcao-Vincenzo Gualtieri vacant IBF middleweight title fight.

krikya360.com has the Berlin-based promotional outfit—who promotes Gualtieri—submitted $410,000 during a purse bid hearing held Tuesday at IBF headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey. The bid was enough to edge out Top Rank’s $375,000 as the lone other bidder for the fight on behalf of Brazil’s Falcao.

The fight must take place by no later than July 31, per IBF representatives. Falcao and Gualtieri are entitled to $205,000 each, an even 50/50 split as the two highest ranked available contenders. The winner will claim the vacant IBF middleweight title that was relinquished by two-time titlist Gennadiy Golovkin (42-2-1, 37KOs) this past February, in lieu of facing Falcao in an ordered mandatory title defense.

Falcao (30-0, 20KOs) became the mandatory challenger following a technical decision win over Patrice Volny in their November 2021 title eliminator between unbeaten contenders. The 2012 Olympic Silver medalist and nine-year pro has fought just once since then, a ten-round shutout victory over Cristian Fabian Rios last May 29 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  

The unbeaten middleweight was previously ordered to face Australia’s Michael Zerafa for the vacant title. The IBF ordered talks on February 9, but abruptly ended on March 1 when Top Rank requested a purse bid hearing.

Zerafa initially sought a 30-day extension. Top Rank agreed to seven days, only to rescind its offer which left the IBF to proceed with original plans. The development came unbeknownst to Zerafa whose manager, Grant Elvis Phillips, informed the sanctioning body of their decision to withdraw from the proceedings and the ordered fight.

Gualtieri (20-0-1, 7KOs) entered the mix as the IBF number three ranked middleweight who now competes for his first major title as a pro.

The 30-year-old contender from Wuppertal, Germany has never fought outside his home country through more than seven years as a pro and likely won’t have to for this affair. Gualtieri has been the twelve-round distance in each of his last five starts, including a points win over Vincenzo Bevilacqua in his most recent start last September 10 in his Wuppertal hometown.  

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox