By Ryan Burton

BoxingScene.com has been advised that an IBF final eliminator between undefeated Cuban Sullivan Barrera (16-0, 11KOs) and Karo Murat (27-2-1, 17KOs) has been finalized for December 12th in Glendale, Calif.

The fight will be televised by HBO Latino and will determine IBF/WBO/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev's IBF mandatory challenger.

After several fighters ranked in the IBF's top ten passed on the opportunity to fight hard hitting Artur Beterbiev in the eliminator, Barrera accepted but ultimately had to pull out of a scheduled purse bid when visa issues prevented him from traveling to Canada where Beterbiev's promoter, Yvon Michel, planned on staging the event.

Soon after Barrera passed on the opportunity, Beterbiev injured himself while training and had to pull out of the eliminator - and that situation put Barrera back in the mix.

Kovalev and Barrera share the same promoter Main Events, so if Barrera emerges victorious, a fight between the two will be very likely in 2016.

Murat has won two in a row since losing a twelve round decision to then light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins in October of 2013. His defeat came at the hands of Nathan Cleverly in September of 2010 in a WBO eliminator.

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