The IBF has sent letters to the camps of Jose Felix Jr. and Denis Shafikov ordering them to fight an eliminator for the right to face lightweight titleholder Robert Easter Jr., IBF IBF championship chairman  Lindsey Tucker told RingTV.com on Tuesday.

“We gave them two weeks (to make a deal) and if they can’t agree then it takes another two weeks for a purse bid,” Tucker said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “So it’s a month with the purse bid. We need (the fight) to happen in December.”

Easter (18-0, 14 knockouts) won an exciting split decision against Richard Commey (24-1, 22 KOs) last Friday to capture the vacant 135-pound, IBF title. The fight was so competitive that Commey’s camp contacted the IBF requesting an immediate rematch, Tucker said, but that won’t happen.

Felix Jr. (34-1-1, 26 KOs) is rated No. 5 by the IBF and stopped Robert Frankel in the sixth round in August while No. 7 Shafikov (37-2-1, 20 KOs) upset previously undefeated Jamel Herring with a tenth-round TKO in July. Tucker said he contacted Top Rank regarding possibly ordering Felix Verdejo to face Felix but was told he wasn’t available because of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

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