Manager Hoping to Find Replacement Opponent for Dmitry Bivol on June 1
May 4, 2024 • 12:02 PM ET
LAS VEGAS – Despite the knee injury that forced three-belt light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev to withdraw from his planned June 1 undisputed title fight in Saudi Arabia, WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol wants to keep the date and his main event.
“We have no reason to not fight. We have been in camp for two months now,” Bivol’s manager, Vadim Kornilov, told BoxingScene in a Saturday text message.
Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs), named the 2022 Fighter of the Year after defeating Canelo Alvarez by unanimous decision, was set to top the loaded June 1 card that features the “5 versus 5” tournament pitting fighters from the teams of rival British promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren.
Late Friday, promoter Top Rank announced WBC-IBF-WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) suffered a torn meniscus in training, forcing him out of the June 1 date – with the hope being that he would return by the end of the year to fight Bivol.
Kornilov said he expects to review and consider possible replacement opponents Sunday, choosing not to immediately discuss any potential candidates.
He added that he believes “things will stay as planned,” with Bivol remaining in the main-event spot “with another opponent.”
The “5 versus 5” tournament includes heavyweight fights between former champion Deontay Wilder against China’s Zhilei Zhang and Filip Hrgovic versus Daniel Dubois along with a featherweight title fight between Nick Ball and Raymond Ford.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
