It’s been an interesting past four months for Dmitry Bivol, to say the least. Bivol came into an October 2024 fight against Artur Beterbiev on top of the world, having made himself a household name by defeating Canelo Alvarez convincingly in May of 2022. He then won all three of his subsequent fights impressively, setting up an undisputed showdown against an aging yet still extremely dangerous Beterbiev.
Bivol saw his dream come crashing down in October, as Beterbiev won by majority decision and took all the belts. The two wasted no time materializing a rematch, but this time, it was Bivol who came out victorious with a comprehensive victory this past weekend. A fun second contest has already led to talks of a trilogy fight. Beterbiev essentially confirmed they will do it, but it’s up to Bivol and promoter Turki Alalshikh to decide what the next move will be.
Eddie Hearn believes Dmitry Bivol would handily beat Artur Beterbiev in trilogy fight
Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn believes Bivol can go in almost any direction. Athough the Beterbiev fight being next is most logical due to the challenger’s age, Hearn doesn’t exactly believe it will even be a close contest.
The rematch was a real golden opportunity because that don’t happen very often, especially at that speed. My gut feeling, with how His Excellency feels about being fair, is the trilogy [will be next], and I’d watch it a million times. But I think Bivol wins much better in the third fight.
If it won’t be a close fight, then does it really make sense for Bivol to do it next? Hearn mentions several other names that Bivol could go for instead. Canelo, David Benavidez and Callum Smith all came up.
A Canelo rematch would be a true spectacle, and Alvarez surely wants revenge for the first fight. Waiting too long for the third Beterbiev fight would also make it lose its luster, especially since Beterbiev just turned 40 years old. Bivol has a big decision on his hands, but it seems like he will take plenty of time to make it.
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