By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com has been advised that Rances Barthelemy (23-0, 13KOs) vs. Denis Shafikov (36-1-1, 19KOs) will now take place on December 18th at The Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The two boxers will battle for the vacant IBF lightweight championship.

The TV outlet has yet to be confirmed, but it's reportedly heading to Spike TV as part of the Premier Boxing Champions series.

Mayweather Promotions is slated to be the lead promoter of the event.

The fight was previously being positioned for December 5th, as part of the anticipated middleweight fight between WBA 'regular' champion Danny Jacobs and former WBO beltholder Peter Quillin at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Barthelemy-Shafikov is a rare occurrence where a Top Rank promoted fighter faces a boxer managed by Al Haymon. The IBF ordered the two boxers to face each other for the lightweight title that was vacated by Mickey Bey.

Shafikov gets his second shot at a world title. He was beaten by then champion Miguel Vazquez over twelve rounds in February 2014. Vazquez lost the title later that year to Bey.

Barthelemy had moved up to junior welterweight in June and dominated former champion Antonio DeMarco over ten. When the IBF offered him the opportunity to fight for a world title, he returned to the lightweight ranks.