Bivol says Alvarez plans 'not interested'

Dmitry Bivol remains confident that he will soon have a chance to win all the light heavyweight belts, and is ready to wait as long as it takes. WBA title holder from Russia hopes to unify all four belts in the division next year, possibly against his compatriot Artur Beterbiev, who currently holds the WBO, WBA and IBF titles. Beterbiev scheduled mandatory defense against Anthony Yarda January 28 in London.

Bivol has repeatedly stated that the fight for the title of undisputed champion is his top priority, much more than a rematch with Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez, whom Bivol defeated earlier this year on points. Alvarez, in turn, wants to take revenge on Bivol for the defeat and hopes to do so next fall. The fight with Alvarez will certainly cost Bivol a very large fee - probably the biggest in his career - and it will be relatively easy to do this, since both fighters are being promoted by Eddie Hearn. But Bivol has so far refrained from expressing excessive enthusiasm for this revenge.

In a recent interview, Bivol stated that he doesn't want to be tied to Alvarez's wishes and that he doesn't care about Alvarez's plans for 2023. At the same time, Bivol stated that he would remain "patient" about his ability to fully unify the light heavyweight division.

"Honestly, I don't care about Canelo's plans," Bivol told iFLTV. - I don't want to depend on his decision who he wants to fight against. I just want to fight, I want to fight for the belt. If I don't get a unification fight for all the belts, give me some other fight, I'm ready. One day I'll get my fight for all the belts."

“I want to fight for the belts,” Bivol added. - Whoever has them, I want to fight him. Maybe even for one. Enough for me. The main thing is that for the belt.

Bivol, 32, expects to return to the ring in the spring and will be an interested observer of the outcome of the upcoming Beterbiev-Yard fight. No matter who wins this battle, corporate politics will not allow Bivol to immediately fulfill his wish. Beterbiev is supported by Top Rank, and Yarda is promoting Queensberry. Both companies' executives, Bob Arum and Frank Warren respectively, do not get along with Hearn, Bivol's promoter, and rarely work with his fighting company.

As for Beterbiev Yard, Bivol is intrigued by the outcome, even if Beterbiev is the clear favorite.

“The yard looks very impressive,” Bivol said. - But, of course, Beterbiev has much more experience than Yard. He has a lot of amateur experience and is good at pro. He is also very strong. It's an interesting fight, but Beterbiev is more experienced and I think he has a better chance of winning."