Home Boxing News Dmitry Bivol has three options, but one fighter leads the pack

Dmitry Bivol has three options, but one fighter leads the pack

Dmitry Bivol

WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol 21-0 (11) is weighing up his options for his next fight.

There has been talk of the 32-year-old Russian facing undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 58-2-2 (39) at 168-pounds in a rematch of their bout last May that Bivol won on points. Their second go round is being explored for September.

Former WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia 41-0 (33) – now competing as a middleweight – has emerged as a surprise dark horse to face Bivol, but he would need to jump up two weight classes to make the bout happen.

But the fight that most fans and pundits want to see the most is a clash against WBC, WBO and IBF 175-pound champion Artur Beterbiev 19-0 (19). Russian Beterbiev, 38, had to walk through fire against Anthony Yarde in his last fight, scoring an eighth-round knockout while trailing on two of the scorecard in London in January.

For Bivol, he would prefer to fight Beterbiev or Alavrez – the former for legacy, the latter for money.

“Of course, it’s not a big fight for me,” Bivol said of Munguia. “I don’t want this fight, to be quite honest, because it’s not my weight class.

“If I have a choice not to fight at all for an entire year or fight Munguia, of course I will fight Munguia. I believe he’s a good fighter but in a different weight class. He fought against Rosado. Who was better?

“I respect him. He’s a good fighter, but I want people to see my fights against a light heavyweight. Two options. Beterbiev or Canelo at 168. Both fights are very good. Of course, with Canelo, it’s more money and more effort to move down in weight class.

“With Beterbiev, it’s a little easier with my weight, but it’s less money. It’s a hard fight. Some points are better, some points are worse. Which fight I can get faster, I will choose that fight.”

Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov suggested the time for the Alvarez rematch has passed, adding that they would be pursuing a four-belt unification bout against Beterbiev instead.

“That’s all passed behind us,” Kornilov said to Fight Freaks Unite. “He took too many other fights. You can’t have a rematch clause that’s two, three fights out.

“We’re going to pursue the legacy and what Dmitry wants. If Dmitry wants to go for undisputed or more titles, wherever we can get that, that’s where we’re going to go.

“We don’t know what’s going to be in September because we don’t know how this [Callum] Smith-Beterbiev thing is going to work out. I think with every quarter; I think the [Bivol vs Beterbiev] fight is building up and more people want to see it.

“Even in June-July, there were some conversations. The UAE was interested. There were some good grounds for the fight, but I think it’s only cooking up and getting better and better.”