The undisputed light heavyweight championship got a little closer to becoming a reality with WBA 175-lb champion Dmitry Bivol signing his part of the contract to battle IBF, WBC & WBO champ Artur Beterbiev in 2024 in Saudi Arabia.
Beterbiev’s roadblock
The clash hinges on Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) winning his next fight on January 13th against Callum Smith in Quebec City. Beterbiev is the favorite in that fight, but you can’t rule out a victory for Smith (29-1, 21 KOs), who is a huge puncher and is motivated for this one.
Callum’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, predicts a victory for him, feeling that he’s getting the 39-year-old Beterbiev at the perfect time. Smith, 33, has looked good since moving up to 175 in 2021, defeating Castillo Rivera and Mathieu Bauderlique.
The tall former WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith looks like a better fighter at light heavyweight than when he was draining down to compete at 168, which took a lot out of him to make weight.
If Callum upsets Beterbiev, Hearn will have the opportunity to crow about the victory and make the case that he should be the one to face Bivol in Saudi Arabia for the undisputed. Hearn promotes both fights, so it would be a win-win for him if Callum & Bivol battle it out for the undisputed championship.
Beterbiev vs. Bivol is a fight that has been brewing for many years dating back to shortly after they turned professional a decade ago. Ideally, the fight should have happened in 2017 after Beterbiev captured the IBF title, stopping Enrico Koelling.
Dan Rafael reports the signing by Bivol for the Beterbiev fight. Now, the fans wait to see if Beterbiev can do his part by defeating Callum to make this fight a reality.
Legacy on the line
This fight is the biggest for Beterbiev & Bivol and one that will shape their legacies. Whoever emerges victorious will hold the honor of being undisputed and can have that on their resume when they retire.
The two champions are completely different in their fighting styles. Bivol is a pure boxer who focuses on outclassing his opposition with his technical skills.
Bivol rarely goes all out for the knockout, knowing to do that would put him in harm’s way. His last fight against Lyndon Arthur was a perfect example of how he fights.
Rather than go for the knockout against a fighter that was out of his league, Bivol utilized his technical skills to pound out a one-sided twelve unanimous decision on the Saudi ‘Day of Reckoning’ card.
Beterbiev is a knockout artist, with a perfect 100% KO rate during his career. He wants to stop all of his opponents, and he has more power to stop Bivol if he can get to him.
