Unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev is willing to talk about a possible fight with either Canelo Alvarez or David Benavidez only after his upcoming clash with Dmitry Bivol.
Thirty-nine-year-old Beterbiev, of Russia, is preparing to take on his fellow countryman Bivol for the undisputed 175lbs championship on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Despite considering a future bout with Alvarez and Benavidez, Beterbiev is only concentrating on going past Bivol.
“We'll see. Let's talk about it after,” said Beterbiev in response to a possible fight with Benavidez in the future. “To be honest, I’ve never seen him fight. I’ve never watched his fights because I'm not really a fan of boxing. When I’ve signed to fight with a boxer, I focus only on that fighter. I'm not that type of person to watch everyone’s fight.
Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) will have his three light heavyweight titles on the line – WBC, IBF, and WBO – when he goes head to head with Bivol in the much-anticipated clash. Should the unified champion win, Beterbiev could go on to face Benavidez or Alvarez in what could be another mouthwatering clash.
While Benavidez is coming off a decision win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in his debut 175-pound fight, Alavrez lost to Bivol two years ago in his second light heavyweight outing. Before facing Bivol, Alvarez had won his maiden 175-pound fight against Sergey Kovalev for the WBO championship.
Commenting on a possible fight with unified 168-pound titlist Alvarez, Beterbiev said that would be another matter altogether.
“It's a different movie. We need to watch this movie first and then we can talk about that after. I never predict the next fight. We'll see. I'm not someone who’ll predict my future fights. I'm a simple boxer, and I try to do my best. I will do my best.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at bernardneequaye@gmail.com.
