WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will remain on the June 1st card to fight a replacement opponent after his fight against IBF/WBC/WBO 175-lb champ Artur Beterbiev suffered a ruptured meniscus knee injury and will be out of action while recovering.
Fans Call for Morrell as Bivol’s Opponent
ESPN reports that Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) will stay on the June 1st card at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fans on social media would like to see David Morrell face Bivol as the replacement.
Morrell is currently scheduled to fight Radivoje Kalajdzic for the vacant WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title on August 3rd on His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s card at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
It would be better for boxing fans, Bivol, and His Excellency if Morrell (10-0, 9 KO KOs) skipped the idea of fighting the 32-year-old Kalajdzic and went after the main WBA 175-lb title on June 1st.
It wouldn’t be much time for the 26-year-old Morrell and Bivol to prepare, but if the money is good, it would be worth it.
Who Else Could Bivol Fight?
There’s no word yet about who is being considered as a replacement option for Bivol to fight, but you can’t expect it to be anyone good, given the short amount of time before June 1st and how weak the light heavyweight division is. Fans wouldn’t be eager to see Bivol defend against a no-hoper like Anthony Yarde, Dan Azeez or Joshua Buatsi.
Bivol is coming off a 12-round decision win over Lyndon Arthur in his only fight in 2023. Before that, he’d beaten Gilberto Ramirez and Canelo Alvarez in 2022.
The June 1st card is still a strong one without Beterbiev, but it would be better if Bivol fought Morrell because, in some ways, it might be even better than the originally scheduled clash.
Morrell is only 26 and would make it interesting against Bivol, who uses a lot of three-punch combinations and movement to win his fights. Against Morrell, it would be difficult for Bivol to fight that way without getting clipped like he was in his last fight with Lyndon Arthur.
June 1st Card Remains Exciting
– Deontay Wilder vs. Zhilei Zhang
– Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois
– Raymond Ford vs. Nick Ball
– Willy Hutchinson vs. Craig Richards