Dmitry Bivol ‘s manager Vladim Kornilov has responded to Artur Beterbiev ‘s challenge and has thumbed up for the 175-pound championship unification fight.
“This is becoming one of the biggest fights that can happen in boxing. They have cleaned out the division between the two of them and there is not many more intriguing matchups out there. Let’s make it happen,” Kornilov said in an interview with Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
Dmitry Bivol’s promoter, @VadimKTeam, to @SInow on Bivol-Beterbiev: “This is becoming one of the biggest fights that can happen in boxing. They have cleaned out the division between the two of them and there is not many more intriguing matchups out there. Let’s make it happen.”
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) January 29, 2023
Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev: One of the biggest fights to make right now
Both Bivol and Beterbiev have openly challenged each other. However, the difference in promoter between the two makes it difficult for the fight to take place. Artur is with Top Rank, while Dmitry has Matchroom Boxing.
Beterbiev has been a light heavyweight champion for five years and already has the IBF, WBO, and WBC belts.
For his part, Bivol has also been the WBA champion since 2017 and has made nine successful defenses. He even added victories against the Mexicans Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez in 2022 and was considered the boxer of the year.
Similarly, the two have similar records and remain undefeated in their professional careers. Bivol is 21-0 with 11 knockouts and has never lost in his career. Instead, Beterbiev has a 19-0 record with all his fights won by way of knockout.
In his last bout, Beterbiev was trailing on two of the scorecards against Anthony Yarde, but a potent combination in the eighth round gave him a knockout victory in his first defense as a unified champion.
Meanwhile, Bivol added a victory over Gilberto Ramírez in a wide unanimous decision by card faith 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110 in November 2022 in Abu Dhabi.
“I love Dmitry Bivol. That is the fight we have to do”, Beterbiev said after his victory. “We won’t know who is the best until we finally fight.”
Bivol commented that he wants to fight for more belts. However, he is already in talks to carry out a rematch against Canelo Alvarez, while Beterbiev has Callum Smith as his mandatory challenger.
