Barrera's Manager is Confident That Beterbiev Will Suffer Defeat

By Elisinio Castillo

Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 13 KO's) is looking to start off 2017 in a very big way, which is why he accepted the IBF's invitation to take part in a final world title eliminator against the very dangerous Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KO's).

Barrera is still fresh from his resounding knockout win over undefeated Vyacheslav Shabranskyy, which took place last month in Los Angeles. It was the perfect fight to recover from a March twelve round decision loss to Andre Ward, who is now the IBF, WBO, WBA world champion of the light heavyweight division.

"Sullivan is living in the best moment of his career and we want to continue to make him bigger," said Barrera's manager Luis Molina to George Ebro. "As he beat Shabranskyy, we are confident that he will beat Beterbiev and open up the door for another opportunity to win a world title."

Beterbiev is ranked at number two under the International Boxing Federation (IBF), while Barrera is in the number seven position, and the winner would become a mandatory challenger to Ward.

There is very little time to reach an agreement, and a purse bid has been scheduled for February 2.

According to Molina, there is some discussion of staging Barrera-Beterbiev on March 4 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, as part of the big event which features the welterweight unification between champions Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia.

"For Sullivan, it would be spectacular to be victorious on one of the most anticipated shows of the boxing season," added Molina. "Sullivan is already known to fans, they know the kind of warrior that he is. His presence on this evening would increase the numbers of fans.''

Beterbiev enjoyed a solid amateur career by winning two amateur titles in top level tournaments, including victories over established professionals like Ismail Sillakh, Oleksandr Usyk and Sergey Kovalev.