WBC Officially Order Dmitry Bivol To Face Knockout ‘Monster’ Next Or Risk Being Stripped Of Title

Dmitry Bivol got his revenge over Artur Beterbiev in their rematch, taking all four light-heavyweight world titles home with him in the process.

Beterbiev took the first bout via majority decision last October, ending a 20-fight knockout streak with his first points win. Many in the sport felt Bivol had done enough to win, others thought Beterbiev’s aggression earned him it and some believed it was too close to call.

That, paired with the elite level boxing on show, warranted an immediate rematch, which took place last month, again in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Bivol started well but gave way to the mean Beterbiev in the middle rounds, with promoter Eddie Hearn fearing the worst for his man. However, Bivol came good from around the seventh onwards and showed just why he should be considered one of the pound-for-pound best in the world, not afraid to trade with the harder puncher and answering any shot with two of his own.

The majority decision, with the exact same scores, was mirrored in Bivol’s favour this time around. He said he would be open to the rubber match and no fan of the sport would complain about seeing the pair face off for a third time.

However, the entrance of unbeaten David Benavidez to the division has added some intrigue outside of the top two, who had largely cleared out every available contender prior to their first meeting.

Benavidez has had just two fights at light-heavy since his world title winning stint at super-middle – points wins over both Oleksandr Gvozdyk and David Morrell Jr. He is the proud owner of the WBC Interim title and the WBA Regular belt, and the WBC has now stated in its latest rankings update, in no uncertain terms, that Bivol must face ‘The Mexican Monster’, next.

Whether or not a deal can be struck for the trilogy remains to be seen. If not, Beterbiev will feel particularly hard done by given the score sits at 1-1. Julian Julianus has now reported that the teams of Bivol and Benavidez have until April 8 to agree terms, though a step-aside to allow the third fight with Beterbiev is a potential.