By Dan Ambrose: Dmitry Bivol won’t be fighting IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev next as he’d hoped would happen.
Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov said the offer being discussed wasn’t serious enough for them to go forward for the fight against the undefeated Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs).
Also, Beterbiev has his WBC mandatory Callum Smith that he must take care of first, so the timing isn’t right for the undisputed clash with WBA champ Bivol to take place in the summer.
With the Beterbiev fight not happening, Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) said that he’d likely wait for the rematch with Canelo in September, which he hopes will take place at 168.
Bivol & Canelo will still need to negotiate their fight, but fingers crossed, it gets made. What’s unclear is how serious Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) is in fighting Bivol again.
While Canelo and his promoter Eddie Hearn have talked about wanting to avenge the loss to Bivol from last May, the Mexican star has chosen not to fight him.
Last September, Canelo fought Gennadiy Golovkin, and now he’s facing John Ryder on May 6th. Will Canelo continue putting off the Bivol rematch or is he finally ready to face him in September?
“I thought I was going to get this fight in June, but I will not get this. Of course, I want to fight in his weight class [168], and I want more belts and it’s not more excuses for him. I prefer to fight at 168,” said Bivol to Fight Freaks Unite about his desire to challenge Canelo for his undisputed super middleweight championship.
“It depends on him. If he wants the rematch, we can talk,” Bivol said when asked if he’ll wait until September before fighting again. “Now, I don’t have anyone to fight, but I will be patient.
“I prefer to fight in my weight class. If I don’t have this option, I can go down for another belt.
“They told me there is nothing interesting for all of us and for business. It’s not for this time. For next fight, we can. There is [Callum] Smith fight soon and there is not good offer for this fight,” said Bivol on what his management team told him about their efforts to make a fight with Artur Beterbiev.
“There were discussions for June or July, but what was being discussed wasn’t serious enough to make the fight happen at that time,” said Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov about the Beterbiev undisputed fight.