By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev & Dmitry Bivol came face-to-face today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou event.
Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) and WBA 175-lb champion Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) posed for a face-off for the media to get them amped up about the potential undisputed championship next year.
Bivol says he doesn’t think about whether a rematch with Canelo Alvarez will ever happen because he’s doing his own thing. He says maybe the fight with Canelo will happen in the future or not at all. Canelo clearly doesn’t want it because if he did, he would have fought Bivol already after losing to him last year.
When Bivol & Beterbiev were asked when they would be fighting next year, neither had any clue. The WBC is the organization is standing in the way of the fight, as they don’t want to sanction the contest as long as the Russian-Ukrainian war is going on.
Beterbiev is defending his IBF, WBC & WBO titles against Callum Smith on January 13th at the Centre Videotron, Quebec City, Canada.
For his part, Bivol hopes to fight in December, and if not then in January. His management has a couple of opponents that they’re looking at for his next fight. Bivol hasn’t fought since last November due to a hand injury.
Bivol wants Beterbiev vs. Smith winner
“I hope in the next week to have news about my next fight. I hope it’ll be the end of this year or the beginning of next year,” said Dmitry Bivol to Boxing Social about his next title defense of his WBA light heavyweight belt.
“We have a couple of opponents. About them, my manager knows better. We’re talking about the fight probably being in the U.S. With the opponent, we’ll mix everything, and we’ll soon know.
“To be honest, this time is like one moment, the one year, because I was training and I had treatment for my hand. I had a couple of training camps, but now it’s fine.
“I hope that I have a fight before, and then I hope that I’ll fight the winner of that fight. It will be great,” said Bivol about his wish to face the winner of the January 13th contest between IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and challenger Callum Smith.
It’ll be up to the World Boxing Council and Top Rank on whether Bivol will get a chance to face the Beterbiev-Smith winner. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman didn’t sound like he was going to give the green light to sanction a fight between Beterbiev & Bivol.
They can still fight, but it just wouldn’t be for the undisputed championship. Boxing fans wouldn’t likely care if the Beterbiev-Bivol fight doesn’t have all four belts on the line, as they recognize both as the two best in the 175-lb division. It’s good enough that they’re both unbeaten and viewed as the top two fighters in the division,” said Bivol.
Canelo rematch not on Bivol’s mind
“I don’t think about it. I have my own ways, and I told it many times,” said Bivol when asked if he’s hoping to face Canelo Alvarez in a rematch in 2024. “Maybe not now, maybe in the future we’ll fight, or maybe never, but how things happened, for me, it’s fine.”
It’s safe to say that Canelo will NEVER fight Bivol again because the bad experience that he had against him is enough for one lifetime. The Mexican isn’t going to face Bivol a second time again and get thrashed for a second time.
Instead of fighting Bivol, Canelo is reportedly planning on facing Jaime Munguia next May, which is a match-up that few fans are interested in seeing in the U.S.
“First of all, I want to have the fights against the best people. If you fight against the best, the people talk about you, you can show your best skills, and you can be remembered for a long time in boxing history. Of course, I want a belt,” said Bivol.
“He’s a big puncher,” said Bivol about Francis Ngannou. “It depends more on Fury about how the fight will be because, of course, Fury is better as a boxer, but it’s an interesting fight because it’s a heavyweight and Ngannou is a big puncher.
“It’s good that people could make a fight like this in boxing, not in some basketball match or a chess match. It’s a very interesting fight. I don’t know how it will be, but I like both of the fighters,” said Bivol when asked about his thoughts on Fury fighting IBF, WBA & WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk next on December 23rd.
“I like Usyk’s style, I like his technique, and I like Tyson Fury’s energy. He’s making boxing [exciting], and he has good skills. Of course, he’s bigger than Usyk, and he knows how to use his weight. He can hug & lean on his opponent. He knows how to use his size.
“I just want to say thank you for watching my fights, and I hope to come back soon. I will try to make you enjoy my fights again,” said Bivol.