Dmitry Bivol vacates WBC title to pursue 3rd fight against Artur Beterbiev
In a somewhat surprising move, Dmitry Bivol has opted to vacate the WBC light heavyweight championship in order to pursue a third and potentially final fight in his series with Artur Beterbiev.
As we know, Dmitry Bivol is one of the best pound for pound boxers on the planet today. In his rematch against Artur Beterbiev, he was able to prove that, avenging his defeat from their first encounter. As we look ahead to the immediate future, it now seems as if they’ll throw down for a third time.
Unfortunately, that means we aren’t likely to see Dmitry Bivol battle it out with David Benavidez as planned – at least, not in his next fight. That was initially scheduled to be his next fight, with the scheduled purse bid being set aside for later this week.
Dmitry Bivol makes a decision
The news that Dmitry Bivol is vacating in order to go after the third Beterbiev fight has seemingly been confirmed by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. Therefore, Benavidez has now been upgraded to champion status, and fight fans will have to wait and see whether or not we ever get this highly anticipated showdown.
For Bivol, it doesn’t feel like this is a case of him ‘ducking’ in the slightest – and in fact, you could argue that it’s the direct opposite of that. He wants to go out there and definitively prove that he’s the best in the wake of two fights with Artur that have been incredibly closely contested. Once that chapter of his career is over and done with, he’ll move on to pastures new.
Dmitry Bivol is an absolute warrior and while this may be disappointing to some, it’s part of a much bigger picture. At the age of just 34, you’d like to think that he’s got at least a few more good years ahead of him. Plenty of time.
