On June 18, in New York (USA), the light heavyweight leader and the owner of three championship belts will be determined – Russian Artur Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs) and American Joe Smith Jr. (28-3, 22 KOs) will meet in a head-to-head confrontation.
Promoter Frank Warrenqueensberry promotions) has been claiming for a long time that the winner will have to give an immediate fight to the WBO mandatory challenger Briton Anthony Yarde (22-2, 21 KOs).
Boss queensberry promotions even
told, when and where this fight will take place: “To begin with, Yard is for some reason invited to fight with compatriot Joshua Buatsi. And here I do not understand absolutely nothing. If Buatsi beat Craig Richards in the final eliminator to become the mandatory challenger for Dmitry Bivol’s WBA Super title, why would they need another fight? The same goes for Yard. He does not need Buatsy, he has a fatter piece on his hands – a fight for three belts. He’s in a great position to be the WBO mandatory. He will get a fight with the winner of this fight sometime in October. And we will try hard to give him a fight here in Britain.”
However, Warren does not mind making the fight between Yarde and Buatsi later: “If Buatsi beats Bivol, and Yard beats the winner of the Beterbiev vs Smith fight … Yes, I think that Anthony has a good chance of taking the belt. If this happens, then he will immediately fight Buatsi. No problem. But I cannot be responsible for the plans of a fighter who is not mine. It’s up to them…”
Interestingly, the WBA already has two mandatory contenders in this weight. Earlier in the eliminator, the Mexican Gilberto Ramirez knocked out the German Dominic Bösel – here is a video of the best moments of the fight.
So who will Bivol fight next? An honest and logical prediction from Bob Arum. In the meantime, Ramirez said: I am the only Mexican who can beat Bivol.
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