It was a night to remember for Dmitry Bivol on Saturday. Facing Artur Beterbiev in a rematch of their first bout, Bivol got revenge on his compatriot, winning by majority decision. Curiously, Beterbiev won their first meeting by majority decision, but most fans agree that the rightful winner was named both times.
Given how exciting and evenly matched both contests were, it’s only right for talks of a trilogy to have already entered the atmosphere. It was already brought up to both fighters, and Beterbiev essentially confirmed that it will happen, saying “we’re gonna do a third fight, definitely“. That admission is good news for boxing fans who have had the pleasure to watch their two matchups. But it’s bad news for David Benavidez, who was champing at the bit to fight the winner of this bout.
Will Dmitry Bivol fight David Benavidez or do trilogy fight first?
It still may happen, since Bivol was quite vague about his immediate future following the fight. He mentioned needing to take time to rest, as he deals with injuries that required “anti-inflammation” throughout his whole training camp.
Bivol may choose to go full steam ahead with a Benavidez fight, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be ready anytime soon. Working against Benavidez is also Beterbiev’s age. He just turned 40 years old, and waiting too long for a trilogy fight could see a diminished version of one of the best light heavyweights ever against a much-younger Bivol.
With Bivol needing time to heal and come up with a plan, Benavidez will have to wait and see what his next move will be. Benavidez just fought David Morrell a few weeks ago, so at least he is in a similar timeframe as Bivol and Beterbiev.
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