By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com has been advised by the International Boxing Federation that top contenders Sergey Lipinets (12-0, 10 KO) and Akihiro Kondo (29-6-1, 16 KOs) were given until September 30th to reach an agreement for an ordered fight for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title.

If no agreement is reached, the fight will head to a purse bid.

Lipinets [ranked at 1] and Kondo [ranked at 3] have both advised the IBF, in writing, of their willingness to participate in the fight.

As BoxingScene first reported on Wednesday, Terence Crawford vacated the IBF junior welterweight title.

Earlier this month, Crawford - who held the WBC, WBO titles - unified the entire division when he knocked out IBF, WBA champion Julius Indongo in three rounds. The fight was showcased as an ESPN televised main event from Lincoln, Nebraska.

Even before that contest took place, the Crawford vs.Indongo winner was ordered, by the IBF, to face mandatory challenger Lipinets - who's been waiting for his mandatory shot since last year, when Indongo defeated Ricky Burns to unify the WBA,IBF, IBO titles. He was on the verge of landing that shot, but the sanctioning body approved Indongo's request to face Crawford in a four belt unification.

There was very little time to make Crawford vs. Lipinets happen, as Lipinets promoter Tom Brown bypassed the negotiations period and requested an immediate purse bid - which the sanctioning body scheduled for August 31.

Lipinets last fought back in March, when he picked up a stoppage victory over Clarence Booth at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

As far as Crawford goes, Top Rank wants to match him against the winner of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn rematch, which may or may not happen in November for the WBO welterweight title. At the moment it's not clear if Crawford - who still holds the WBC, WBA, WBO world titles - will remain at 140-pounds.