WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (17-0, 11 KOs) recently challenged Saul Alvarez, but the Mexican has completely different plans, and the Russian’s duel with his compatriot, IBF and WBC champion Arthur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) seems now more likely. According to Bivol, this is a big challenge for him for several reasons.
“This is a great fight. It is really difficult for me and for Beterbiev, because we know each other well. Arthur is the most dangerous boxer in the world because he has heavy hands. However, he also has two belts, and a duel with him is worth all the risk,” Bivol said.
In his last fight on October 12 Dmitry defeated Lenin Castillo. A week later Beterbiev had his last fight, stopping Alexander Gvozdyk and taking away his WBC belt. On March 28, in Quebec, Beterbiev’s rival was supposed to be the IBF mandatory challenger, Fanlong Meng of China, but the fight was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In February, negotiations were held between Bob Arum (promoter of Beterbiev) and Eddie Hearn (promoter of Bivol) regarding a duel between two Russian champions at the Gazprom Arena stadium in St. Petersburg. However, so far this project has faded into the background, although it has not been finally buried, at least as Russian sources suggest.
