Unbeaten light heavyweight destroyer, and unified WBC/IBF/WBO champ Artur Beterbiev will be a very interested observer of tonight’s fight between Dmitry Bivol and Lyndon Arthur.
It’s no secret that the Saudis aim to make the 175-pound unification fight next year, providing Bivol wins tonight and Beterbiev takes care of business against Callum Smith in one of the first big fights of 2024.
We fans have craved this fight, this great clash of styles, with the two undefeated Russian stars wanting it themselves, to show who really is the best in the world at the weight. Beterbiev, 19-0(19), was asked what might be next for him down the line after the Bivol fight and if a move to heavyweight could actually happen. Very much coming across as a man in two minds, Beterbiev first said to Fight Hub TV he would “never say no” to a fight with Oleksandr Usyk before he said he was “joking.”
Is the heavyweight division just too big a jump for Beterbiev?
“It’s interesting to go up [in weight], to try to put myself there too. But we’ll see,” Beterbiev said on the subject of maybe moving up in weight after the Bivol fight. “I’m not looking farther, you know….we’ll see. If you ask me [about fighting Usyk], I say whenever [I] fight. If you ask Usyk to fight me, maybe.
“Because if he wants [to] fight, I never say no. But if you ask me, like no. But I’m joking. There are two weight classes, you know. I’m not so good [a] boxer to go two weight classes and beat someone or even do a fight with them. To be honest, it’s [the heavyweight division] too far right now. I’m not so good [a] boxer to move up two categories and have fights with cruiserweights, you know. I know in history, they did fights, I don’t remember names, where a light heavyweight did have fights with heavyweights. They did fight. I’m [a] simple boxer, you know.”
Beterbiev comes across as modest, and also as a person with a good sense of humor. Beterbiev is pretty much keeping us guessing as far as whether or not he will ever box at either cruiserweight or heavyweight. Time will tell. For now, Beterbiev says the Bivol unification fight has to happen, “it’s my job,” he said. Right now, however, Beterbiev made it clear he is fully focused on Callum Smith, 29-1(21).
Will Beterbiev, the only world champion out there right now with a 100 percent KO ratio, keep his flawless KO record in the Smith fight?
“We’ll see. I’m really interested in this question, too,” Beterbiev said, smiling. “I need to answer too, you know.”
