World Boxing Association (WBA) light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol is targeting a 2022 unification showdown with unified World Boxing Council (WBC) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Artur Beterbiev.
On December 11 in Russia, Bivol dominated compatriot Umar Salamov in a twelve round bout to secure a lopsided unanimous decision.
On December 17 in Canada, Beterbiev will defend his titles in a mandatory fight against once-beaten challenger Marcus Browne.
Beterbiev, should he win, is also looking for a big fight in the coming year.
According to Bivol, there is a good chance the two of them could collide in the spring if a deal can be reached between their teams.
“Of course [I want to fight Beterbiev], this fight could happen [in the spring]. I am ready for big challenges, we were ready to fight any of the champions to win another title. If the fight with Beterbiev is organized, it will be great,” Bivol told Tass.
“I want to wish Artur good luck in the fight with Marcus Browne, and then we will see what will happen.”
Both Beterbiev and Bivol have been inactive in the last few years.
Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) defeated Lenin Castillo in October 2019, but didn’t fight again until May of this year, when he defeated Craig Richards.
For his part, Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs) also saw action in October 2019 when he stopped Oleksandr Gvozdyk to unify the IBF, WBC titles. But, then he didn’t see action until March of this year, when he picked up a stoppage win over Adam Deines.
Beterbiev wants to face Bivol, but there is also the option of fighting the winner of next month’s fight between WBO champion Joe Smith and challenger Callum Johnson.