ARTUR Beterbiev has a question he wants rival Dmitry Bivol to answer.
The two light-heavyweights have been the best in class for several years and proved just how good they were during their two fights which took place last October and four months ago.
On both occasions all four belts were on the line, in Riyadh, with each man scoring one win. Beterbiev’s win in October was an enthralling clash which he won by majority decision but in the rematch Bivol shone and rightly got the decision.
A third fight has long been discussed, but as time drags on Beterbiev has asked Bivol, “How old do I have to be before we have a third fight?”
The 40-year-old, not known for his presence on social media, used Instagram to air his frustrations and tagged in Bivol for good measure.
“After receiving hundreds of questions about the third battle, I decided to share the situation here,” he wrote with an image of the former champion landing a right hand on the current undisputed king.
“As you may know, the first fight for the title of absolute champion took place in October last year. After five years of attempts on our part to unite the belts, it still happened. The day after the first fight, we agreed on a rematch that was supposed to take place for four months, even though I was still recovering from surgery, and my coach and doctor were absolutely opposed to such an early rematch.
“After the second fight, I immediately showed interest in a third fight soon, and at first there were rumours about the fight in August, but in an interview my opponent said that he wanted to hold it in late fall, then at the end of the year, and now it is unknown when.
“Dima @bivol_d how old do I have to be before we have a third fight?”
Beterbiev turns 41 next January while Bivol celebrates his 35th birthday in December. Of the two Beterbiev may be shown small signs of decline on the evidence of their two battles. Bivol, however, improved on his first showing – which he was unlucky not to win – to deservedly win the rematch.
The Sunday after his February triumph Bivol spoke to Boxing News and was well aware he had many options ahead of him. A third clash with Beterbiev, a move to cruiserweight and a rematch against Canelo Alvarez, at super-middleweight, were all discussed.
Discussing a return bout against the Mexican, who he defeated at light-heavyweight in May 2022, Bivol said: “I want to fight for the belts. This is first of all what I want and I want to fight for my legacy. I want to get some benefits from the fight. Not about money it’s only to be remembered in the mind of people, to be remembered in boxing history.”
Since then the IBA have declared their interest in bringing the fight to Russia, rumours of a summer bout between Bivol and David Benavidez surfaced, Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov declared the trilogy must be next, Bivol vacated his WBC strap promoting Benavidez to full champion and yesterday Ring magazine wrote that Turki Alalshikh had given Bivol and Beterbiev his blessing for a third fight to be staged in Russia.
Bivol’s co-promoter Eddie Hearn told BN on Friday that he expected Bivol-Beterbiev 3 to go ahead in November. This was in response to the IBF calling for Bivol to face their mandatory challenger Michael Eifert who has been in the position for two years.
“Eifert is due to fight our guy Conor Wallace, who we co-promote with Tasman Fighters,” Hearn said.
“I do feel like there’ll probably be an exception request or a conversation with Eifert’s team to allow that IBF belt to be on the line for Bivol-Beterbiev 3 but it’s been a while.
“The IBF are a governing body that want to see action and want to see the mandatory challengers get their opportunity. So, if that belt is vacated it will be Eifert against (number two contender) Conor Wallace for the IBF title which we’d be happy with as well. My gut feeling is there’s probably going to be some kind of exception request to keep the belt on the line for that fight.”
Whenever it takes place how old will Beterbiev be? The likelihood is either 40 or at worst 41.
