Dmitry Bivol: “If [Jermell] Charlo wins, I would like to fight him”

Dmitry Bivol says he’ll come down from light heavyweight to challenge Jermell Charlo for the belts if he upsets undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 30th.

The manager for Bivol, Vadim Kornilov, is willing to negotiate a fight with Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) if he beats Canelo next month to become the four-belt champion at 168.

Dmitry isn’t concerned about dropping down in weight, as he feels he’ll be successful against the new champion. At this point, it’s unclear if Charlo would agree to fight Bivol because he will be in high demand after a win over  Canelo.

There will be a target on Jermell’s back, with all the top super middleweights coming after him, looking to relieve him of the undisputed championship.

Fighters like David Benavidez & David Morrell Jr., who some fans feel have been avoided by the champion Canelo, will push for Jermell to fight them.

Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) already beat Canelo last year, and the Mexican star surprisingly dragged his feet about executing the rematch clause and then wisely chose not to face him again.

Ideally, Bivol would prefer to fight in his division at 175, but to win more world titles, he’ll come down to 168 to face Jermell. Bivol isn’t mentioning Canelo’s name because he already ruled out letting him fight for his belts at 168.

Bivol has been blocked from fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight championship against IBF/WBC/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev due to the World Boxing Council not sanctioning fights involving Russian athletes due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Although Beterbiev was born in Russia, he lives in Canada.

“Yeah, if Charlo wins, I would like to fight him,” said Dmitry Bivol to FightHub TV on his wish to fight Jermell Charlo if he beats Canelo Alvarez on September 30th.

What are the chances of Jermell Charlo fighting Bivol? You’d have to say it’s improbable that Jermell will want any part of a fight with Bivol if he emerges victorious against Canelo.

Jermell has already talked about fighting Canelo in a rematch in December and then swooping back to 154 to take care of Terence Crawford, who beat his friend & gymmate Errol Speence Jr. last July.

“It’s not like, ‘Oh, I want to fight against someone at 168’. No, I prefer to fight in my weight class,” said Bivol. “But if someone wants, and we have a good offer to move down for the [super-middleweight] belt, I will do it, but I prefer to fight in my weight class.”