Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera and former world title challenger Karo Murat will duke it out Dec. 12 for the right to become one of unified titleholder Sergey Kovalev's mandatory challengers. The bout will be one of three televised fights on HBO Latino at the Civic Auditorium in Glendale, California.

Main Events promoter Kathy Duva, who promotes Barrera (16-0, 11 KOs) and is putting on the card along with Top Rank, initially was negotiating for Barrera to face European champion Igor Mikhalkin (17-1, 9 KOs), of Russia. However, Duva told ESPN.com that after Mikhalkin accepted the elimination fight he changed his mind.

Sullivan Barrera, left, and former world title challenger Karo Murat will meet Dec. 12 for the right to become one of Sergey Kovalev's mandatory challengers. AP Photo/Tim Larsen

At that point, Murat (27-2-1, 17 KOs), 32, of Germany, was the next available contender in the IBF's ratings, and he accepted the fight, Duva said.

A Miami-based Cuban defector, Barrera, 33, knocked out Hakim Zoulikha in the eighth round on July 25 in his last fight, which was on the undercard of Kovalev's third-round knockout of Nadjib Mohammedi.

Murat lost his only other fight in the United States, dropping a lopsided decision to then-world titleholder Bernard Hopkins in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in October 2013. Murat has been fairly inactive but has won both of his bouts since losing to Hopkins.

The card will also include Main Events' up-and-coming middleweight Arif Magomedev (16-0, 9 KOs), 23, of Russia, who will face an opponent to be determined in a 10-round bout.

Top Rank will put on the main event, but the match has not been determined.