Bivol Hopes to Make Mandatory Defense Against Barrera Next

By Keith Idec

If Dmitry Bivol and Sullivan Barrera emerge victorious from their upcoming fights, Bivol hopes to battle Barrera next.

Kyrgyzstan’s Bivol (11-0, 9 KOs) first must make an optional defense of his WBA world light heavyweight title Saturday against Australia’s Trent Broadhurst (20-1, 12 KOs) at Casino de Monte Carlo in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Cuba’s Barrera (20-1, 14 KOs) then would need to defeat the Dominican Republic’s Felix Valera (15-1, 13 KOs) on November 25 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden to make a Bivol-Barrera bout possible.

“Now I think only about November 4th,” Bivol said during a conference call Wednesday. “Ask me about that after the fight. But I know the WBA said the winner of the fight November 4th will make a mandatory defense. Yes, I will be ready if I’m the winner. That’s what I hope.”

Barrera, who’s ranked No. 1 by the WBA at 175 pounds, expressed frustration when it was announced Bivol would make his first title defense against the unknown, unproven Broadhurst. If Barrera beats Valera, who has lost only a unanimous decision to Bivol, the WBA is expected to make him Bivol’s mandatory challenger.

Bivol, who was the WBA’s interim light heavyweight champion, had hoped to box Badou Jack after the former WBC super middleweight champion stopped Wales’ Nathan Cleverly in the fifth round August 26 in Las Vegas to win the WBA world light heavyweight title. Jack vacated the title less than a month later, however, because he is pursuing more lucrative fights against WBC champion Adonis Stevenson (29-1, 24 KOs) and former IBF/WBA/WBO champ Sergey Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs).

The WBA elevated Bivol from interim champion to world champion once Jack (22-1-2, 13 KOs) gave up his championship. Andre Ward (32-0, 16 KOs), who was the WBA’s “undisputed” champion at 175 pounds, retired two days before Jack gave up his version of the WBA title.

Bivol’s handlers have had difficulty luring top 175-pound opponents into fighting him. His manager, Vadim Kornilov, hopes Barrera bucks that trend if they both win this month.

“We’re interested in the Barrera fight,” Kornilov said. “It’s been mentioned that Barrera is probably gonna be the mandatory for Bivol after this fight and after his fight. If that’s gonna happen, then that’s definitely something we want and we’re definitely interested in doing that next.”

According to the WBA’s rules, the 26-year-old Bivol must make his mandatory defense before July 25.

HBO will televise Bivol-Broadhurst live Saturday at 5:45 p.m. ET from Casino de Monte Carlo. It will be replayed at 5:45 p.m. PT and 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.