Unified Light Heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev has called out WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed title clash, following the former’s brutal 2nd round knockout victory over Joe Smith this Saturday night at the Hulu Theater in New York City.
We need this fight: Artur Beterbiev wants Dmitry Bivol later this year
With the WBC and IBF belts already under his possession, Beterbiev faced Smith Jr for the WBO 175-pound title and after the dominating victory, the Russian-Canadian is now the three-belt champion and is just one more title away from the undisputed crown.
As of now, the only 175-pounder Beterbiev needs to beat is Dmitry Bivol, the reigning and undefeated WBA titleholder who shocked the boxing world with his dominating unanimous decision victory over Canelo Alvarez back on 7th May in Las Vegas.
“He [Smith] has a style like this. Any fights, he do like this,” Beterbiev told Fight Hub TV after his victory, “He catch me here [forehead]. I don’t know how he catch me. My coach said he caught me with an elbow. I’ll see on the video.”
With Canelo moving on with his upcoming undisputed super middleweight title defense against longtime rival Gennadiy Golovkin in their much awaited trilogy fight in September, the Bivol rematch is out of the question, making him available to face Beterbiev later this year.
“Yes, because they always talk like they want to fight for next. Okay, let’s do it,” Beterbiev nodded to facing Bivol up next, “I don’t know but we need this fight, I think so.”
“The game plan isn’t just what we’re working on in the ring. It’s the eight weeks that we’re working on. No, when I first started to box, my dream was to get the Olympic gold medal,” the unified titleholder commented on edging close to an undisputed championship.
“Professional, I’m never thinking about. When I turned professional, I’m just a little bit dreaming, you know? It’s very nice to have a fight here in this historic place [Madison Square Garden] in New York,” Beterbiev added. [H/T Boxingnews24.com]
Do you want to see Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol lock horns for the undisputed 175-pound title later this year? Let us know in the comment section below.
