For the first time of his career, Artur Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KO’s) seems fit and ready to compete; contrasting earlier cases that occurred over the past couple of years where the Canadian-Russian fighter ended up being injured almost every year.
However, it will not be Dmitry Bivol (24-1, 12 KO’s) he will be fighting this year.
Despite the WBO recently claiming a trilogy bout between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol was in the works, this appears to have been a miscalculation as Beterbiev has now been confirmed to be competing on the November 22nd card that will be headlined by WBC light-heavyweight (175 lbs) champion David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KO’s) and British challenger Anthony Yarde (27-3, 24 KO’s).
The WBO had recently ordered a bout between British light-heavyweight interim champion Callum Smith and Cuban contender David Morrell with the assumption that a trilogy bout between Beterbiev and Bivol would occur in the near future, thereby allowing Bivol to keep a hold of his WBO title without needing to face interim champ Smith.
This does not appear to be the case at this point as earlier this week Artur Beterbiev was revealed to be making his in-ring return after suffering his first loss to Dmitry Bivol during their second bout in February. Beterbiev, who became the undisputed champion at 175 lbs during their first bout, lost all his world titles against Bivol.
Beterbiev’s opponent is slated to be American contender Deon Nicholson (22-1, 18 KO’s) who is currently not ranked on any of the four main sanctioning bodies’ ranking boards and carries an unflattering resume with no notable names.
With Artur Beterbiev appearing all too willing to compete against Dmitry Bivol to revenge his February loss, Bivol himself seems to be absent on purpose as the trilogy bout remains delayed for reasons publicly unknown but likely based on Bivol’s attempts to age Beterbiev out.
These claims had been made by Beterbiev himself ― who turned 40 in January ― who accused Bivol of delaying their trilogy bout on an Instagram post:
“I received hundreds of questions about the third fight, that’s why I decided to answer here,” Beterbiev wrote.
“As you know, the first fight for the absolute champion title took place in October last year. After five years of attempts to unify the belts, it was still successful. The day after the first fight, we agreed on a rematch, which was to take place within four months, despite the fact that I was after the operation, and my coach and doctor were categorically against such an early rematch.
“After the second fight, I immediately showed interest in an early third fight, and at first there were rumors about the fight in August, but my opponent said in an interview that he wanted to hold it in late autumn, then – at the end of the year, and now – it is completely unknown when.
“Dima [translated as ‘Dmitry’], how old do I have to be so that we can fight for the third time?“
With Dmitry Bivol having not been reported to be dealing with any injuries and appearing to enjoy a holiday of sorts according to his own latest Instagram post, there does appear to be a clear intent by the current unified champion to stall the trilogy bout which has pushed Beterbiev into a nigh-desperate contest against the unknown Nicholson in a bid to remain active.
