Dmitry Bivol made shrewd business move by flirting with Benavidez, boosting Saudi purse for Beterbiev trilogy

Dmitry Bivol’s decision to vacate his WBC light heavyweight belt and pause a defense of his titles against WBC interim champion (and mandatory challenger) David Benavidez was the right chess move to make, the panel of ProBox TV’s “BoxingScene Today” analysts concurred.

On Wednesday’s episode, 2024 Boxing Writers Association of America Trainer of the Year Robert Garcia said he expected Bivol, 24-1 (12 KOs), to relinquish his WBC strap in favor of an anticipated trilogy fight against Russian countryman and former undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev.

That bout is being pointed to October in Saudi Arabia.

“With that trilogy and a great pay day, it was clear he was going to vacate,” Garcia said. “If he beats Beterbiev again [as Bivol did by majority decision on February 22], then he fights Benavidez for undisputed.

“That’s the smart way to do it business wise. I want to see him fight Benavidez, but I also want to see him fight the third fight. They’re 1-1. The winner fights Benavidez. It’s the perfect scenario.”

Although the IBF may yet move to strip Bivol of its belt for not fighting little-known mandatory Michael Eifert next, Bivol likely considered that Beterbiev, 21-1 (20 KOs), has turned 40 and mentioned his interest in retiring soon, analyst Paulie Malignaggi said.

“I wanted to see [Bivol] fight Benavidez first. While trilogy fight always seems to come later – it’s always going to be there – Beterbiev is not that young, so maybe the thinking is, ‘I better get him before he retires, maybe [Beterbiev’s] not going to be there for long,’” said Malignaggi.

Malignaggi pointed out the inconsistency in the WBC stripping Bivol in such short order after failing to sanction Mexico’s super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for not fighting top-ranked Benavidez for more than two years.

“I wondered if they’d enforce it … no problem, they tripped this guy [Bivol] instantly while they didn’t ever think of stripping Canelo,” Malignaggi said.

Speaking of conspiracies, former 140lbs champion and ProBox TV analyst Chris Algieri said that while there were negotiations between the Bivol and Benavidez camps, he speculates Bivol never intended to take the Berterbiev fight off the table.

“It was a move by Team Bivol to drag a little more money out of the Saudis,” Algieri said. 

Algieri said Bivol could’ve been excused for thinking he won the first bout against Beterbiev, which instead went Beterbiev’s way by majority decision, and then go after unbeaten former WBC super-middleweight champion Benavidez 30-0 (24 KOs).

Saudi Arabia’s boxing financier Turki Alalshikh “said if [Bivol] knows who butters his bread, he knows who to come home to,” Malignaggi said.

“You don’t think he’s getting some extra cheese on that bread,” by flirting with the idea of a Benavidez fight? Algieri asked.

“This is also a shot across the bow [at the Saudis] by the WBC: ‘Oh, that [Bivol] is their guy? This [Benavidez] is our guy.’ [The WBC] is pushing back on these fights. There’s other things happening outside the ropes.”

Although Malignaggi expects a rugged trilogy fight, Garcia said he expects Bivol will out-box Beterbiev and win again, and then move to fight Benavidez, a bout ripe to be promoted by Premier Boxing Champions in the U.S. after PBC stages Benavidez’s first title defense, likely in the summer against a top contender such as former 168lbs champion Callum Smith.

“[Benavidez] should fight the baddest M.F.’r in the division,” Algieri said.

Smith posted an impressive victory on the February 22 card, defeating previously unbeaten Joshua Buatsi.

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.