Nigerian-born British boxer to face Victor Ramirez in Argentina

Nigerian born British boxer Ola Afolabi and Argentine Victor Ramirez will face each other in an interim title fight.

It has been reported that world cruiserweight champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez is still side-lined from recurring injuries.

Ola Afolabi will face Ramirez' on Friday, April 10 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The winner will be named IBF interim cruiserweight champion, and first in line to either get a shot at the real title or be upgraded to full champion in the event that Hernandez cannot - or chooses not to - defend his title in a timely fashion.

The bout marks a rare occurrence in which the IBF calls for an interim title fight. Whereas other sanctioning bodies willingly create and pass around titles to the highest bidder, the IBF reserves its usage of interim titles only for extreme circumstances.

Afolabi (21-3-4, 10KOs) is the mandatory challenger to the title and was due a shot at Hernandez. The two were scheduled to fight last fall, but was pushed back after the champion suffered an injury and subsequently revealed he was not ready to return to the ring in the near future.

The IBF called for negotiations between Afolabi and Ramirez, with the bout due to go to a purse bid should the matter not be resolved. The matchup fell off the radar, but resurfaced with confirmation of the April 10 date.

Afolabi will gun for his fourth shot at a major title. His previous three attempts have all come versus Marco Huck, going 0-2-1 in the series. The British cruiserweight-who now lives in and trains out of Los Angeles-has also twice won interim titles, with both occasions directly resulting in separate cracks at Huck.

Ramirez (21-2, 17KOs) briefly reigned as a cruiserweight titlist before suffering his own loss to Huck, dropping a 12-round decision on the road in Germany to end his reign.

The fight appeared to have ended his career as well, as Ramirez fell off the boxing radar following the Aug. '09 loss before resurfacing late in 2013. He has since won six straight contests, the last five all sanctioned by the IBF in climbing up the rankings in his pursuit of a second title reign.