Reigning fighter of year Bivol's 2023 schedule filled with uncertainty
Beterbiev showdown and Canelo rematch (at 168) on wish list but neither would happen until at least September
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Dmitry Bivol holds the WBA light heavyweight title, is a consensus top-10 pound-for-pound fighter and was the 2022 fighter of the year thanks to his enormous victory over undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, boxing’s biggest star, followed by a rout of then-unbeaten No. 1 contender Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
But that was then and this is now and lining up a major fight in 2023 has been difficult. Lining up any fight hasn’t been easy either and it appears as though Bivol won’t be back in the ring until the fall, which would limit him to one fight this year.
If Bivol had his way he would fight three-belt light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed crown this summer in a match Beterbiev also says he wants — and one diehard boxing fans have clamored for. But Beterbiev owes Callum Smith a mandatory fight and, as attractive as the undisputed fight is, both sides would probably have to resign themselves to making less money than they hoped for since it’s just not that big commercially.
Bivol also would be happy to give Alvarez the rematch he wants and that is also possible for the fall if Alvarez defeats John Ryder on May 6.
While those are his targets, there have been conversations between his promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, and Golden Boy, about a summer fight with Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight titlist, who has spent recent years fighting one soft touch after another at middleweight.
So what does Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs), 32, think about the various possibilities?
“I thought I would get a fight in June or May, but things change,” Bivol told Fight Freaks Unite. “I’m fine. I will wait for another fight, maybe September, maybe later. I’m not disappointed because I was a little bit busy with my family stuff.”
As far as a rematch with Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs), 32, Bivol is not that interested in fighting him at light heavyweight. He would rather drop to super middleweight for a chance to win the belts from Alvarez and become undisputed champion.
“Of course, I am open to fighting him again,” Bivol said. “I’d prefer to fight in his weight class. I could put my belt (up) too. I want to fight for more belts and there’s no excuses for him if I win (in his weight class). I prefer to fight (Alvarez) at 168.
“It depends on him if he wants it. If he wants this rematch we could talk. We are open. Let’s talk. He decided to fight Ryder. No problem. I will be patient like I was before.”
The prospect of a fight with Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs), 38, is even more attractive to Bivol.
“To be honest, I want to stay in my weight class and fight for belts. If I don’t have this option I could go down,” Bivol said. “It’s better for me to stay in this (light heavyweight) weight class and fight for more belts. I always tell my team, let’s make this fight.”
Vadim Kornilov, Bivol’s manager, who sat in for a joint interview with Bivol with Fight Freaks Unite, said there were talks for a Beterbiev-Bivol fight for this summer but no deal was reached.
“There were discussions for June/July. What was being discussed was not serious enough to make the fight happen at that point,” Kornilov said. “There were some discussions about a month ago to make the fight in June or July, whether the fight would be in the UAE or in the U.S, but the numbers that were brought up and things we were trying to materialize, it wasn’t materializing.”
It’s not that there wasn’t good money in the fight, but seemingly not enough to satisfy both sides.
“They’re both pound-for-pound fighters, they’re both top-10 pound-for-pound fighters and they both want to make money,” Kornilov said. “They both want this fight to be worth their while. What was being talked about for June/July was just not at the level (financially) and that’s why it didn’t materialize.”
With fights against Alvarez or Beterbiev not happening until at least the fall, the prospect of a summer fight with Munguia (41-0, 33 KOs), 26, was brought up even though Bivol would be a gargantuan favorite.
“It’s not like we said we wanted to fight Munguia,” Kornilov said. “That’s just another name on DAZN that we can try and make a fight with. Ask Dmitry right now what he thinks about fighting Munguia. He just told you, ‘I’d rather deal with my life and go and fight in September (against Alvarez or Beterbiev).’ Does the fight (with Munguia) excite him? I don’t think so, but he needs to stay active.
“You’ve got a lot of people in the press saying, ‘Why isn’t Dmitry active? He’s one of the best fighters in the world, pound-for-pound. Why isn’t he fighting?’ Well, here’s your answer. Does Dmitry really want to fight Munguia? Not really.
“Golden Boy and Matchroom are talking about Bivol-Munguia as we speak. Is it a done fight? No. Is it going to materialize? I don’t know. Do we want to keep Dmitry active? Of course. We don’t want him to sit out for more than six months.”
Bivol was less than enthusiastic about a Munguia fight but if that was the lone summer option he said he would do it.
“It’s not a big fight for me. I don’t want to fight him to be honest, but if I have a choice to not fight at all or fight Munguia, of course I would choose to fight Munguia,” Bivol said.
But his heart is set on an undisputed title fight, be it against Beterbiev at 175 pounds or a rematch Alvarez for his belts at 168.
“Both fights are very good. Of course, with Canelo it’s more money but also it’s more of an effort to move down,” Bivol said. “With Beterbiev it’s easier with weight and for less money and it’s a hard fight. Which fight I can get faster, I will choose that fight.”
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Bivol photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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Please lets forget Canelo's management using the power of money to make Bivol fight Canelo seriously weight drained at 168lbs when despite the usual dodgy scorecards anyone unbiased knows he's already beaten Canelo and did so very comfortably. Instead us fans should be looking at the real meaningful fight which is Bivol taking on Beterbiev before he ages any further for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight title which is a historic fight in one of the original historic divisions that shows us whose the best Light Heavyweight of the 2020's. A fight with Bivol or Alverez vs Alverez is nice but its pretty meaningless and is based on money and not boxing immortality.