Promoter Eddie HearnMatchroom Boxing) argues that the fight for the title of absolute light heavyweight champion between Russian champions Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) and Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) must be carried out now, otherwise this process will drag on for a long time.
Hearn remindsthat the WBA Super champion Bivol is obliged to give revenge to the Mexican Saul Canelo Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs), whom he confidently outboxed in May: “Dmitry is ready to fight Beterbiev for the absolute right now. If we wait, then Bivol will have to give back to Canelo first. So what are we waiting for? Let me remind you that Dmitry now has no scheduled fight, he has no opponent.
It is expected that on October 22 in London (England) the holder of the WBC, IBF, WBO belts Beterbiev will meet with his mandatory contender British Anthony Yard (22-2, 21 KOs). Rumor has it that the arena has already been chosen for this fight.
Hearn comments: “Yes, they have a mandatory challenger. But it’s not exactly a must-have. They just chose to protect the Yard. I propose to make the fight for the absolute next. I don’t understand, what are we waiting for? After all, the fans know how good Bivol is. He is the best in this weight.”
The problem is also that Beterbiev and Bivol perform on competing television platforms – respectively ESPN channel and
streaming DAZN. Both platforms are unwilling to “loan” their top fighter to a competitor. And holding a duel on two platforms at the same time is unlikely for the reason that there is no proper fan excitement and demand for this.
Meanwhile, Beterbiev’s coach talked about Bivol, Smith, Yard and compared Arthur with the legendary Duran. The other day there was an updated “pound” from ESPN. In it, Beterbiev is in the top 10 – he is higher than Bivol and Lomachenko.
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