Artur Beterbiev’s promoter, Bob Arum, says he and Dmitry Bivol Will be taking interim bouts before meeting in a rematch in October 2025 for the opening of the Riyadh Season.
Top Rank promoter Arum told Dan Rafael on X about undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and former WBA champ Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) taking interim bouts next.
Arum didn’t say who Beterbiev will face next, but one possibility is his mandatory IBF challenger, Michael Eifert. The IBF ordered Beterbiev vs. Eifert last week to happen next. If Beterbiev wants to keep that title and hold onto his undisputed crown, he must face him or work a step-aside deal.
The downside of delaying Beterbiev-Bivol’s fight until October 2025 is that Beterbiev will be close to 41 years old by then. Beterbiev turns 40 on January 21st. If the rematch is delayed until October, he would be within three months of turning 41. That’s great for Bivol, who would have more of an advantage, but not a good deal for Beterbiev or the fans.
What fans would prefer to happen is for Beterbiev to face Canelo Alvarez or the winner of the David Benavidez or David Morrell fight next. Those would be great fights. Either one of those options would be preferable to the obscure IBF mandatory Eifert (13-1, 5 KOd) being next for Beterbiev.
It’s unlikely that Canelo will choose to fight Beterbiev due to the high risk involved. Canelo might not be interested in facing a dangerous puncher like Beterbiev because he doesn’t possess the mobility that Bivol does. He would have to stand and fight Beterbiev, and his chances of survival would be slim. It would be the same thing for Bivol if he wasn’t on the move for 12 rounds.
Bivol should fight one of these contenders next:
– Joshua Buatsi
– David Morrell
– David Benavidez
Ideally, Bivol should fight one of those guys next for his interim bout, but his promoter, Eddie Hearn, might not be open to putting him in a risky fight that he could lose before facing Beterbiev. Bivol doesn’t possess the offensive skills to beat any of those three fighters, and he would be forced to move around for 12 rounds to keep from potentially getting knocked out.
Beteriev defeated Bivol by a 12-round majority decision on October 12th. The fight was close one with Bivol getting the better of the slow-starting Beterbiev in the first half of the fight, using movement, jabbing, and combination punching.
In the second half, Beterbiev took over with his pressure, power-punching, and staying on top of Bivol. The scores were 114-114-115-113 and 116-112. Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn argued afterward that he deserved the win by an 8-4 margin, and Beterbiev’s shots were picked off on his gloves.
The judges obviously saw Bivol showing no willingness to fight and looking in distress from the seventh round on. Bivol’s body language was that of a fighter who had completely wilted in the second half of the contest. You can argue that he lost every round from round seven on. Obviously, Hearn and Bivol’s fans aren’t going to admit that he’d given up, but that was the reality that non-biased fans saw.
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