WBC and IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Artur Beterbiev said that he was equally interested in fights with a compatriot Dmitry Bivol and American Joe Smith Jr..
“Honestly, if by some conditions it merges with Bivol, then I don't mind. If somehow everything grows together with Smith - also do not mind. I don’t have such a thing that I want to beat one of them more. I'll just try to do my job well. And that's all.
"I cannot say what to expect from the fight with Bivol. If I say something now, then you will probably start laughing and will not believe it, but I have not watched a single fight of Bivol. Because I'm not a boxing fan in general. From training, of course, [to a fan], because I have been doing this for a long time. As for boxing, there is no such thing that I watch every fights, especially my opponents.
"When I sign a contract for a fight, that's when I start to study the opponent, his strengths and weaknesses. And so, perhaps, we can meet, for example, with Chapaev. But I may not meet with him. Why would I bother with unnecessary information? Only when I sign a contract for a fight, my team and I begin to watch the opponent's fights and move in that direction,” Beterbiev said.
Beterbiev knocked out Marcus Brown on December 18 in the ninth round.
