Negotiations continue on organizing a fight between the WBA light heavyweight world champion Russian Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) and the bronze medalist of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio by the British Joshua Buatsy (16-0, 13 KOs). This fight may take place this year in the capital of the United Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi.
Bivol defeated Saul Alvarez, the super-middleweight king, in May and there will be a rematch next year, but first the Russian and the Mexican must win their next bouts. Canelo's opponent in September will be Gennady Golovkin, and this will be Alvarez's third fight with a boxer from Kazakhstan, while Bivol is still waiting for the name of his next opponent. It looks like Buatsy, who defeated Craig Richards in May, could be the current WBA number two.
The Bivol-Buatsi fight should theoretically not be difficult to organize - both boxers cooperate with the Matchroom promotional organization and for both of them, the fight in the capital of the UAE should be beneficial both from a sporting and commercial point of view.
However, the problem for Matchroom is the fact that the WBA requires Bivol to make a mandatory defense, that is, to fight Gilberto Ramirez.
