By Sean Jones: Dmitry Bivol is training for the next title defense of his WBA light heavyweight belt for a fight that could take place in October or November.
According to Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn, he’s been injured since his last fight against Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez last year in November and is ready to return to the ring in three months.
Bivol had hoped to get a rematch with Canelo Alvarez, who he easily defeated last year in November, but surprisingly, the Mexican star declined his offers to come down to his weight to challenge for his undisputed super middleweight championship.
Canelo says he wanted the rematch to be at the same weight as their previous fight at 175, but some believe that he didn’t want to face Bivol again after losing in such a one-sided manner.
There’s no word on who Bivol will face for his November fight, but it wouldn’t be a shock if it’s one of the British fighters that are ranked in the top 15 by the World Boxing Association.
Someone like Lyndon Arthur or Craig Richards would play well for UK fans. U.S. fans would likely rather see Bivol fight former WBC 175-lb champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk or Richard ‘Popeye The Sailor Man’ Rivera next.
Bivol already beat Craig Richards, so that fight would be pointless, and Lyndon Arthur lost to Anthony Yarde by a fourth round knockout in 2021. His opposition has been poor since.
“Yeah, he’s been injured for a while now. Some people just think he’s just decided not to fight since last November, but he has been injured,” said Eddie Hearn to the DAZN Boxing about WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, who hasn’t fought since last November when he defeated Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez by a lopsided twelve round unanimous decision.
“I think around October time or November. He wants the winner of Callum Smith against [Artur] Beterbiev, which unfortunately got postponed.
Hearn says the idea is to have Bivol fight in November and then face the winner of the January 13th contest between IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev & challenger Callum Smith.
Those two were supposed to have fought already, but Beterbiev needed surgery on his jaw. Hearn thinks that Callum (29-1, 21 KOs), a fighter he promotes, will defeat Beterbiev, setting up a Bivol-Smith fight for next year.
Bivol had an excellent year in 2022, defeating previously unbeaten former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs) by a one-sided twelve round unanimous decision last November in Abu Dhabi. The scores were 117-111, 117-111, and 118-110.
Dmitry Bivol back in training…
[🎥 @Bivol_D] pic.twitter.com/HbCikinzFS
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) August 19, 2023
“So he has to wait a little longer, but I think if we can get him out in November, I think we can definitely look at fighting the winner of Callum Smith and Beterbiev, which I truly believe will be Callum Smith,” said Hearn.
