The Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol Rematch will happen a year from now, in October 2025, during the Riyadh Season. Promoter Bob Arum revealed that undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) will have interim fights before meeting next year in October.
Bivol lost a 12-round majority decision to Beterbiev on October 12th in Riyadh. Beterbiev wore Bivol down with pressure in the second half and had him hurt several times. The need for a rematch is based on Bivol winning most of the early rounds due to Beterbiev’s slow start.
In an interview with Dan Rafael, Top Rank promoter Arum said that Beterbiev and Bivol would fight other opponents before meeting at the opening of the next Riyadh Season.
Beterbiev Could Face Eifert Next
Fans don’t want that, but the Saudis are financing the Beterbiev vs. Bivol rematch, so the second fight will take place then. Arum didn’t reveal who Beterbiev will fight for his interim match, but his hands are tied.
The IBF ordered Beterbiev to defend against Michael Eifert, which is mandatory with their organization next, and he must do that if he wants to keep that belt.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn promotes Bivol, and he’ll likely not want to take any risks with him losing to someone while waiting for the lucrative rematch with Beterbiev. Hearn may match Bivol against one of the British contenders rather than take a risk by putting him in with the winner of the January 25th clash between David Benavidez and David Morrell.
Those guys have the power and youth to put Bivol on the run as Beterbiev did, but they did it from the first round. They wouldn’t wait until the seventh like Beterbiev did to put Bivol under fire.
Bivol’s Potential Options for Interim Fight
Hearn obviously knows it would be a bad idea to match Bivol against Benavidez or Morrell. So, it’s likely that he’ll pick one of these fighters for his interim bout:
– Dan Azeez
– Callum Smith
– Anthony Yarde
– Wily Hutchinson
– Joshua Buatsi
Of all those names, Azeez or Callum would likely be the next opponent for Bivol. Buatsi is too dangerous, and Hutchinson is too tough for Hearn to use either of those guys.
I would favor Buatsi over Bivol based on how the two fighters looked in their last contests. Hutchinson is tough enough to give Bivol massive problems with his youth, pressure an unorthodox style. That’s a fight Bivol could lose or look very bad in.
Pressure = Kryptonite for Bivol
Bivol is a good fighter, but he can’t handle pressure and has very little power. Moreover, Bivol doesn’t like getting hit to the body, as seen in the later rounds against Beterbiev and in his fight last December against Lyndon Arthur. When Arthur and Beterbiev hit Bivol to the breadbasket, he went into retreat mode for the remainder of those two fights. The white flag of surrender went up for Bivol when getting hit to the body.
