On July 1, 2023, 33-year-old Esquiva Falcão (30-0, 20 KOs) and 30-year-old Vincenzo Gualtieri (20-0-1, 7 KOs) fought for the vacant IBF middleweight title.
Falcão came in to the fight on a 30-fight win streak with a 66% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 1 year, 1 month, and 2 days. Gualtieri was on a 5-fight win streak with a 33% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 9 months and 21 days.
Vincenzo Gualtieri defeated Esquiva Falcão via unanimous decision . Gualtieri improves his record to 21-0-1, while Falcão adds a loss to his record at 30-1.