By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev (10-0, 10 KOs) has wisely given up on the idea of him fighting in the 2016 Olympics. The 31-year-old Beterbiev would have had to complete in a qualifying process to earn the right in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It would have been a process that would have taken time away from Beterbiev’s pro career, and the timing would have been really bad, given that he’s coming off a year-long layoff due to a shoulder injury.
Beterbiev previously competed in the Olympics in 2008 and 2012, but failed to medal. Taking part in another Olympics might have resulted in Beterbiev in finally capturing a medal, but he likely wouldn’t have gotten much credit for it due to his advanced age compared to the amateurs taking part.
Beterbiev recently defeated Ezequiel Maderna by a 4th round knockout earlier this month on June 4 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. It was a great performance from Beterbiev, who knocked Maderna down twice in the 3rd and 4th rounds of the fight. Beterbiev wants a world title shot against IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev in the near future.
Beterbiev could be two or three wins away from getting the title shot. Beterbiev would already be the IBF mandatory challenger to Kovalev if he hadn’t suffered a shoulder injury last year. Beterbiev was supposed to fight previously unbeaten Sullivan Barrera for that position, but the shoulder injury scraped those plans.
“After analyzing all situations, we came to the conclusion that the current situation was not favorable,” GYM president Yvon Michel explained. “The short-term goal for Artur Beterbiev is to become world champion in the pro ranks. He will be back in the ring in September.”
Beterbiev is ranked well by all four of the sanctioning bodies at 175, and it’s only a matter of time before he gets his shot at a title. Getting a fight against Kovalev would seem to be the easier goal than pursuing a fight against WBC champion Adonis Stevenson.
Beterbiev is ranked No.4 with the WBC, and he probably would need to wait until he’s the WBC mandatory challenger before he’d get a crack at fighting Stevenson. Under the best case scenario, Beterbiev might have to wait two years before he’s given a title shot against the Canadian based Stevenson. Under the worst case scenario, it might take even longer.
Kovalev appears to want the fight with Beterbiev, because it would give him a good fight that would bring in excellent ratings on HBO when the fight eventually takes place. Kovalev has a fight later this year in November against Andre Ward.
If Ward wins that fight, then Beterbiev would be looking to fight him in 2016. Ward wants to fight the best, so he would very likely jump at the chance of fighting Beterbiev without making him wait years and years before giving him the fight.
Beterbiev could pick up an easy belt if he could get a fight against WBA World light heavyweight champion Juergen Braehmer. However, Beterbiev is ranked #4 with the WBA, and Braehmer would likely never fight him in a voluntary defense. Beterbiev would probably need to be the WBA #1 mandatory challenger to get a fight against Braehmer, and that might take a couple of years.