Beterbiev-Bivol rematch winner inherits wealth of options

The beauty of Saturday’s Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol rematch for the undisputed light heavyweight championship is that it settles so much, leaving one man standing as the division’s unquestioned king.

Enjoy the tranquility while it lasts.

Where the winner will go from here is uncertain, given the possibility that Bivol could win and leave Beterbiev requesting a trilogy fight after winning their first meeting by unanimous decision in October.

The multitude of options is plentiful, leaving one sanctioning body head to admit, “It is a problem.”

The most deserving contender to the throne is former super middleweight titleholder David Benavidez, 30-0 (24 KOs), who was repeatedly bypassed by current three-belt 168lbs champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez until he grew frustrated and moved to light heavyweight, winning WBC interim and WBA secondary titles in consecutive fights – most recently February 1 against then-unbeaten David Morrell Jnr.

Benavidez has accepted the invitation by Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh to attend Saturday’s stacked card in Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena headlined by Beterbiev-Bivol.

“David Benavidez is the immediate next mandatory, and [that information] has been public for many months,” WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman told BoxingScene on Tuesday.

Yet the IBF and WBO heads believe that obscure IBF No. 1 contender Michael Eifert is next in line for the title shot based on the rotation that occurs for unified/undisputed champions.

The IBF presented a negotiation order for Beterbiev to deal with Germany’s Eifert, 13-1 (5 KOs), following his October victory, but the sanctioning body then granted an exception for the rematch to transpire as an undisputed affair last week.

WBO President Gustavo Olivieri told BoxingScene on Tuesday that it’s his position that Saturday’s Riyadh undercard WBO interim title fight between fellow Brits Joshua Buatsi, 19-0 (13 KOs), and Callum Smith, 30-2 (22 KOs), will make the winner next in line behind Eifert, with Benavidez behind both.

Olivieri said Beterbiev first discharged his WBO mandatory in January 2023 by defeating top-ranked Anthony Yarde. One year later, he satisfied his WBC obligation by stopping Smith in the seventh round. Then, he defeated then-WBA titleholder Bivol.

“The IBF [and Eifert] is next in line,” Olivieri said.

Yet given the presence of Saudi dollars and the push for high-caliber bouts to continue in the division, the likelihood of a financial resolution or to follow the path of Canelo Alvarez and dismiss the IBF belt in favor of a bigger fight seems more likely.

Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz said last year that he has been told by the WBC and WBA that, by standing as a “unified interim” champion, Benavidez elevates to the front of the line for the Beterbiev-Bivol winner.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Olivieri said. “A unified interim? That’s unheard of.”

Beyond that, Alalshikh reported last week that he wants to stage a trilogy fight between Beterbiev and Bivol if the latter wins Saturday night.

So much will be settled, so much chaos awaits.

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.