The money coming from the sheikhs in the Middle East is bearing fruit. They will lead to a heavyweight unification on February 17, the Joshua-Wilder fight on March 9 is closer than ever, but they have also set themselves the goal of determining the undisputed champion in the 79-kilogram weight category. Bivol is the WBA champion, and Beterbiev holds the WBC, IBF and WBO titles.
“When I signed a contract with the Saudis for the fight with Arthur, this was not their main goal. They want a fight for the status of the undisputed light heavyweight champion, so I am here and will fight at the boxing evening this Saturday. So I hope that I will defeat Arthur, and in my next performance I will fight for all the light heavyweight belts. I respect Beterbiev as an athlete, but he has what I want. I am convinced that with good training I can beat him,” said Bivol, who still does not rule out a rematch with Saul Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) at a lighter weight limit.
“I’m not a big light heavyweight, so I can go down to the super middleweight category. But I will only do this to fight for the belts, and Canelo has all four of them. However, now I am focused on the fights with Arthur and then with Beterbiev. Of course, Beterbiev has yet to beat Callum Smith, but he is my favorite in this pair,” added Bivol.