Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol: Undisputed unification fight postponed after Beterbiev suffers injury (no date set)
By Eddie Sanchez
Fight fans will have to wait a bit longer for one of the year’s most anticipated bouts. Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol will not take place on June 1 as planned, due to an injury Beterbiev sustained during training camp.
The fight, announced in February, was set to crown the first undisputed light heavyweight champion of the four-belt era and the first in the division since Roy Jones Jr. in 2002.
It’s an ambitious plan on Alalshikh’s part because returning to the ring soon after suffering a knee injury like the one IBF/WBC/WBO 175-lb champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) suffered is going to be difficult to achieve. Beterbiev might not be at 100% for the fight, which would play into WBA champion Bivol’s hands fighting a guy who isn’t at his best for this contest.
With the uncertainty in the 39-year-old’s knee, it might be wiser to let Beterbiev recuperate for the remainder of 2024 and instead have the David Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk winner take on Bivol in October or December in a mega-fight.
Given the anticipation behind Bivol-Beterbiev, a fight years in the making, it would be understandable if the Saudis choose to exercise patience and wait for Artur to get healthy.
