World boxing champion Dmitry Bivol of Russia has no issue with a high stakes unification against his countryman Artur Beterbiev.
During an online conference, Bivol made it very clear that he was very much interested in a showdown with Beterbiev – and he believes that their showdown could become a massive event in Russia.
“I would like to fight with Artur Beterbiev. I think he also wants this. It would be a great fight. I would love to fight this fight in St. Petersburg,” Bivol said.
Bivol owns the World Boxing Association (WBA) light heavyweight title, while Beterbiev holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles.
There would have to be some network issues worked out, as Beterbiev is contractually tied to ESPN through his promotional deal with Top Rank – and Bivol’s recent fights have been showcased by the DAZN streaming service.
Bivol (17-0, 11KOs) has been out of the ring since October of last year, when he won a twelve round unanimous decision over Lenin Castillo. He is expected to fight before the end of year, but the exact details have yet to be revealed.
Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) had his career best win in his last ring appearance. Also in October of last year, Beterbiev knocked out undefeated Oleksndr Gvozdyk to unify the WBC, IBF world titles in Philadelphia.
The Russian puncher is now expected to return in the month of December, in a defense of his title against Adam Deines. Initially he was going to face mandatory challenger Meng Fanlong of China, but there were visa related problems that prevented his participation.