By Dan Ambrose: Promoter Eddie Hearn reports that Dmitry Bivol will be making the next defense of his WBA light heavyweight title against a still-to-be-determined opponent on December 2nd or 9th.
Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) has been out of action with an injury for the last ten months and is finally ready to return.
Hearn isn’t saying who Bivol will be fighting, but it won’t be IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev because he’s defending against his WBC mandatory Callum Smith next.
“December 2nd & the 9th looks like Dmitry Bivol one of those dates,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV.
Bivol had hoped to fight Canelo Alvarez in a rematch, but the negotiations never got off the ground. Canelo was reportedly reluctant about defending his undisputed super middleweight championship against Bivol.
Losing those four titles would leave Canelo beltless, and getting beaten at 168 would take away the Mexican star’s ability to make excuses for the defeat like the first time they fought at 175.
As a matter of choice, Bivol says he wants to battle Jermell Charlo next if he’s victorious in his contest against Canelo Alvarez on September 30th. It’s not likely that Jermell will agree to the Bivol fight because even if he wanted to, he would be stuck giving Canelo a rematch.
Jermell hasn’t spoken of wanting to mix it up with Bivol if he gets he beats Canelo. It’s not a good match-up for Jermell on paper because he has problems with fighters who can box, as we saw in his two fights with Tony Harrison.
Potential options for Bivol’s fight in December
- Joshua Buatsi
- Dan Azeez
- Anthony Yarde
- Richard Rivera
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk
- Lyndon Arthur
- Craig Richards
- Andre Dirrell
With Hearn, you can’t rule out an odd duck-type opponent being thrown in with Bivol. Super middleweight John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) would be a strange match-up that would make no sense, but it’s right up Hearn’s ally.
Bivol fighting Ryder would play well in the UK with British fans but do nothing for the U.S. audience. Ryder, 5’9″, lost his last fight to undisputed 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez by a lopsided twelve-round unanimous decision last May. It would look bad if Ryder were to back into a title shot after that defeat.
Former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozyk (19-1, 15 KOs) would be a decent option for Bivol, but he’s only had two fights under his belt since coming out of a four-year retirement. It wouldn’t be fair to Gvozyk to throw him in with Bivol after just two fights.
