Robert Easter Jr. won the IBF lightweight title via split decision in a tough fight against Richard Commey last month, and he might soon find himself matched right back against him. RingTV reports that the IBF has ordered Richard Commey to face Denis Shafikov in a lightweight eliminator bout, with the winner set to be Easter Jr.’s mandatory challenger.

Commey got the call for the eliminator bout after several ranked contenders turned down the chance to face Shafikov, according to IBF chairman Lindsey Tucker. Originally the IBF had ordered Jose Felix Jr. to face Shafikov but he declined, along with Felix Verdejo (who is still recovering from a motorcycle accident), Alejandro Luna, and Edis Tati.

“Right after the fight with Commey and Easter we started going down the list and nobody would take it except for Shafikov and we came back around to Commey,” Tucker said in a phone interview. “There’s a purse bid [today] because they weren’t able to reach an agreement. The winner fights Easter.”

Once the purse bid business is taken care of today, with the fight between Commey and Shafikov must take place by January 9th.