WBC awaits Bivol's request for 'clearance'

Mauricio Suleiman
Mauricio Suleiman

World Boxing Council (WBC) President Mauricio Suleiman said that at present his organization still has a ban on the participation of Russian boxers, so he expects that Arthur Beterbiev in his next fight will hold a mandatory title defense against Callum Smith, and not a fight for the title of absolute light heavyweight champion with Dmitry Bivol.

At the same time, Suleiman noted that in order for Bivolu to get the opportunity of such a fight, he first needs to ask for “permission” from the WBC.

In November last year, the WBC excluded from its ratings and imposed a ban on holding fights under its auspices for Russian and Belarusian boxers due to the ongoing large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.