By Mike Smith: Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn reportedly plans on matching unification fights between WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and IBF belt holder Artur Beterbiev (13-0, 13 KOs), and Daniel Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) and Sergiy Derevyanchenko (12-0, 10 KOs) and Demetrius Andrade [if they both win their next fights in October], according to Michael Benson.
Hearn promotes Jacobs, Beterbiev and Andrade. He’s currently attempting to sign Bivol (14-0 11 KOs) to his Matchroom Boxing USA/DAZN stable. Beterbiev-Bivol is a fight that could be an easy one to make, as both fighters would likely be open to this fight.
Andrade (25-0, 16 KOs) will be fighting Walter Kautondokwa (17-0, 16 KOs) on October 20 on DAZN at TD Garden in Boston, Mass. It’s still not official yet that the World Boxing Organization middleweight title will be on the line for the Andrade vs. Kautondokwa.
Bivol has mentioned wanting to drop down to 168 to take on new WBA Super World super middleweight champion Callum Smith (25-0, 18 KOs). Hearn isn’t saying anything about wanting to put the Bivol vs. Smith fight together, which suggests that he’s not too keen on letting Callum take on the hard-hitting 27-year-old Russian. That would be a fun fight to watch, but it probably wouldn’t go too well for Smith if Hearn gave the green light to letting shark-like Bivol inside the ring with him. It would be a feeding frenzy for Bivol to face an upright fighter like Callum. Smith defeated WBA ‘Super World’ 168 lb champion George Groves (28-4, 20 KOs) by a 7th round knockout in the final of the World Boxing Super Series super middleweight tournament last month on September 28. Shortly after Smith’s victory over Groves, Bivol volunteered to drop down to 168 to face him. There’s been silence on Smith and Hearn’s part in accepting Bivol’s offer, however.
Andrade needs to get past the 33-year-old Kautondokwa first before Hearn starts talking up a fight between him and Jacobs. Andrade has been training to face southpaw Billy Joe Saunders all this time, and he’s not going to be well prepared for the orthodox stance and power punching of Kautondokwa.
Andrade, 30, is a ring rusty fighter, who hasn’t fought in 12 months facing a guy that has been busy with his career in Kautondokwa. Last year, Kautondokwa fought three times, and he’s already fought this year. Andrade will likely win due to his pedigree, size and experience at the upper levels in the sport, but it could be interesting if Kautondokwa is able to take the fight into the later rounds. That’s when Andrade’s ring rust may begin to show.
Jacobs isn’t a sure thing to get past the 32-year-old Derevyanchenko in their fight on October 27 on DAZN at Madison Square Garden in New York. Jacobs barely won his last fight against Maciej Sulecki last April in winning a 12 round decision. Jacobs losing to Derevyanchenko wouldn’t be a surprise. However, it’s likely that Jacobs will win if the fight goes the distance. Jacobs is at home and the judging will likely be in his favor as long as he can go the full 12 round distance.