Undisputed light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will be vacating his WBC 175-lb title to avoid tomorrow’s purse bid on April 8th for his WBC-ordered fight against mandatory David Benavidez in favor of taking the lucrative mega-million trilogy match against Artur Beterbiev.
It’s a move that had been protected because Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) is a terrible style matchup for the 34-year-old Bivol and would likely beat him and take some of the shine out of his trilogy match with Artur Beterbiev.
Going up against David Benavidez, 28, would be too much for Bivol, and it’s good that he knows his limitations. Even if Dmitry is victorious against Artur, it’s unlikely that he’ll willingly agree to fight Benavidez because his style doesn’t match up well with his.
The Beterbiev Trilogy
The Ring reports that Bivol will “proceed with the Artur Beterbiev trilogy.” That’s a fight that Turki wants, and it’s one that will pay well for Bivol. If there was more money in the Benavidez fight, it’s obvious that Bivol would go in that direction despite it being a contest that would be an absolute nightmare for him.
Fans on social media are ambivalent about this news, as many of them are tired of seeing Bivol and Beterbiev fight it out in chess matches that resemble a wolf chasing a rabbit around the forest. Artur won the first fight on October 12th last year and fought well enough to earn a draw in the rematch on February 22nd but was given a raw deal by the judges.
I scored it a draw. That was a weird fight. Beterbiev dominated the fight with ease in rounds 2 through 6, but then stopped throwing punches from rounds 7 through 11.
Then all of a sudden, Beterbiev turned on his offense in round 12, and beat the living daylights out of Bivol, having him close to being knocked out. It was like turning on a light switch. Beterbiev fought the same way in the 12th as he had in rounds 2 through 6.
It looked very strange. Was he trying to lose the fight so that he could ensure there would be a trilogy? That’s what some boxing fans believe. All I can say is it was bizarre that he would dominate so effortlessly in the first half, then stop throwing punches for the next five rounds until the 12th.
If Beterbiev fights aggressively like he did in the final round, Bivol doesn’t stand a chance in the trilogy because he’s too fragile to stand up to his power shots. The same would happen if Bivol fought David Benavidez, but it would be much quicker. He wouldn’t allow him to make it to the second half the way Artur did.
There was no chance that Bivol would willingly take on the Mexican Monster Benavidez and get chopped down within six rounds. He wouldn’t risk that big payday against Beterbiev.
Title Vacancy
With the WBC title being vacated, interim champion Benavidez will either be elevated or ordered to fight the next available contender. In this cast, it could be #1 David Morrell. It would be entertaining to see a rematch between them. Benavidez beat Morrell by a 12-round unanimous decision on February 1st by the scores 118-109, 115-111, and 115-111.
The Cuban Morrell could make it a tougher fight for Benavidez in the rematch by attacking him more fiercely than he did last time. He fought well in the second half when he after Benavidez and was hitting him with huge shots that altered his facial features. Those two fighting would be more competitive than Benavidez facing Bivol because Morrell has the power, youth, and toughness to stand and fight. Bivol is too weak, old, and skittish. He hates being hit.
Last Updated on 04/07/2025
Read the full article here
