Dmitry Bivol Next Fight: World champion looks to lock in the Beterbiev trilogy

Dmitry Bivol lost his WBA light heavyweight championship by the narrowest of margins in October 2024. The Russian was dethroned by his countryman Artur Beterbiev, who unified the undisputed 175lb championship with a majority decision win.

Bivol rebounded from his maiden career defeat by taking an immediate rematch with the four-belt ruler. Bivol triumphed in a rematch every bit as thrilling and technical as their first encounter. Read on the find out who Dmitry Bivol will fight next as well as exactly what has happened to his WBC belt.

The year Bivol first became WBA light heavyweight champion, Floyd Mayweather was still an active boxer. Jake Paul was playing Dirk Mann on Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark. Anthony Joshua beat Wladimir Klitschko. Mental demons threatened to claim Tyson Fury. Manny Pacquiao lost his WBO title in controversial circumstances to Jeff Horn. It feels like a lifetime ago. In boxing terms, it was.

In February, for the first time since that far-flung year, Bivol entered a fight as the challenger. He left a champion. After another 12 of the finest rounds with natural rival Beterbiev, this time it was Bivol who left the ring as the undispued light heavyweight champion.

The first fight was both riotously entertaining and close without being too controversial. The action was nip-and-tuck in a way that meant neither man could be accused of, to use boxing’s most-vomited phrase du jour, a “robbery”. But it was enticingly pendulous, shifting like turning tides until the final bell.

The second picked up where the first left off. The beauty of this rivalry is the lack of enmity. The Russian pair fight to establish boxing supremacy and nothing more. No pushing at the presser or warring at the weigh-in. Bivol and Beterbiev are simply two men who are far-and-away the best boxers in their division. The fights have been classics because they relish testing their skills and endurance against each other. The hype stems from seeing two future Hall of Famers do battle as their peaks have dovetailed.

Such fights should be commonplace in boxing, but they are not. Riyadh Season, for all the justifiable concerns people have about the outfit and its ties, have cut through red tape like no one in boxing before. 

Alongside Beterbiev-Bivol, the Saudis also managed to get two helpings of Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury into the ring. All that glitters ain’t gold, especially in boxing. But these guys do get the biggest bouts over the line.

In the light heavyweight division, a third helping of this pairing is probably still the best direction of travel. Bivol wants it and even relinquished his WBC belt to make it happen. Upon entering into negotiations to make a third Beterbiev match, he informed the WBC he would not be pursuing a fight with their then-interim champion David Benavidez. Bivol-Benavidez was due for purse bids the next day.

That happened back in April and Bivol-Beterbiev III is not yet official. It has been rather quiet on the trilogy front. But neither man is braggadocios and both remain without a scheduled fight. I think a fight pitting WBA, WBO and IBF kingpin Bivol against the man he took those belts from in Beterbiev is still likely.

Should the fight fall through, perhaps Benavidez can be engaged? Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez recently regained his IBF super middleweight belt from William Scull, another fighter who benefited from sanctioning body machinations. Oleksandr Usyk looks to do the same in July, when he attempts to reclaim his own IBF title from Daniel Dubois. The era of undisputed has given way to the era of re-undisputed.

But I would be stunned if Bivol-Beterbiev III does not take place. Barring injury or retirement, let's not forget Beterbiev is 40, I think the rivalry needs a score-settling third match.

Some boxers are ideal dance partners. The doomed Diego Corrales and proud Jose Luis Castillo. Those wonderful Mexicans, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. ‘Irish’ Micky and ‘Thunder’ Gatti. In Bivol and Beterbiev, boxing has found two more combatants who were simply made for each other.

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