WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo challenged Dmitry Bivol for a future fight at 168 pounds. While the Russian has nodded to the challenge he has put a condition on Charlo to carry it out.
Dmitry Bivol Won’t Go Down Any Lower Than 168 For Jermall Charlo
Currently, Dmitry Bivol is the WBA 175-pound champion, but he opened the possibility of going down to 168 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for the super middleweight championships, as well as the rematch to their May 2022 clash. On the other hand, Jermall Charlo continues to hold the WBC belt at 160, and for the past two years, has continued to state that he plans to move up in weight.
Taking on the Russian two weight classes above him in the middle ground seems to be fulfilling for Charlo, so he challenged Bivol during the show between Regis Prograis and José “Chon” Zepeda, captured by FightHype.
“You want to fight me?” Charlo first approached Bivol. “I’ll fight you, come on.”
“Which weight,” Bivol responded, to which Charlo replied, “Sixty-eight.”
“Sixty-eight? It could be,” Bivol expressed his willingness. “For belts. But you know my goal, to be honest, fighting for belts.”
“Undisputed, right now,” Charlo went on, “You want to fight me?”
“You’re undisputed?” Bivol surprisingly asked.
“I got the WBC,” Charlo said. “You want the WBC?”
“160?” when Bivol asked, Charlo confirmed, “160.”
“No!” Bivol denied as his physique would be very difficult to go down to middleweight.
“168?” Charlo counter-offered.
“Do you have a belt for 168?” Bivol then asked, “When you do, let’s do it.”
“No, no, no, no, no — no belt,” Charlo responded. “Just [for the] attraction. I’ll do it. Let’s do it.”
“Yeah, I can do it, too,” Bivol replied. “Yeah, why not?” [H/T BadLeftHook]
In 2022, Bivol fought twice in the light heavyweight division and clinched victories over Mexicans Canelo and then against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez to extend his undefeated record to 21-0.
Charlo, however, has been absent all year after he suffered a back injury that forced him to postpone his middleweight defense against Maciej Sulecki.
Despite Charlo’s intentions and Bivol’s condition, a meeting between the two looks complicated, as Bivol is represented by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, while Charlo is with Al Haymon and PBC.
Bivol continues to sound strongly for a rematch fight against Canelo in May 2023. However, he has commented on multiple occasions that his main plan is to unify the 175-pound championships. Meanwhile, Charlo plans to return in February 2023 with a rival to be defined.
