WBC, IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev is not getting any younger, as he hopes to finally see action in 2021.
Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) turns 36-years-old in January.
The boxer has been inactive since October 2019, when he secured the biggest win of his career with a knockout of previously undefeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk to unify the WBC, IBF world titles.
He was initially scheduled to fight in March at the Videotron Center in Quebec against Chinese mandatory challenger Fenlong Meng. This event was canceled at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then the contest shifted to Russia, with several dates presented and pushed back.
Eventually, Meng was ruled out from the fight and a deal was finalized to face German contender Adam Deines.
There was a date set down for December 19th in Russia, but then it was pushed back to January 11.
Now the January date is also being ruled out.
According to Beterbiev's head trainer, Marc Ramsay, the January date no longer worked for Top Rank - so the entire event had to be postponed.
"It's the promoters' fault this time," Ramsay told The Canadian Press. "The date no longer suited Top Rank, so the Russian promoter who is hosting the event had to postpone the show."
Beterbiev will therefore have to wait at least until the end of January, perhaps until the beginning of February before defending his titles.
Ramsay was scheduled to join Beterbiev in Russia in mid-October to complete the Russian boxer's training camp. The plans have now changed.
“Artur will be back in Montreal next week,” said Ramsay. "After his 14-day quarantine, we'll resume training here. But that won't hurt Artur at all, he's still in the gym. Often I give him time off and he calls me to ask me to go to the gym."
Deines (19-1-1, 10 KOs) is ranked fifth in the IBF. He too has been inactive for a long time: He has not entered the ring since his knockout victory against Russian Yevgenii Makhteienko in September 2019.