Artur Beterbiev: record, next fight and profile →
WBC/IBF light heavyweight unified champion Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) is preparing for his mandatory challenger Fanlong Meng (16-0, 10 KOs), whom he is scheduled to face on March 28 in Quebec City, Canada, his adopted homeland.
A deal for the Artur Beterbiev-Meng Fanlong light heavyweight title fight has been completed. Contracts have been finalized for the Beterbiev-Fanlong fight to take place March 28 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. ESPN, which first reported that this deal was completed, will televise Beterbiev’s mandatory defense of his IBF 175-pound championship versus Fanlong.
Michael Seals showered and rushed back into the arena the night he scored a first-round knockout on the Artur Beterbiev-Oleksandr Gvozdyk undercard. Seals wanted a perfect seat inside Temple University’s Liacouras Center to watch those elite light heavyweights go at it. The hard-hitting Seals also sought an advantageous viewpoint because he was scouting as much as he was watching their fight from a fan’s perspective October 18 in Philadelphia.
Artur Beterbiev no longer has to worry about making a personal compromise for the sake of going through with his next fight. The unbeaten World light heavyweight champion will now get to call the shots for his next title defense, which is due to come in early spring versus mandatory challenger Fanlong Meng. Promotional rights for the bout have landed in the hands of Top Rank Inc., Beterbiev’s promoter after Rejoy Group and Longjoy Sports defaulted on the original terms of the purse bid.
Fanlong Meng’s first career title fight could come in front a partisan crowd. With a bid of $1.9 million, Roc Nation Sports—on behalf of Rejoy Group /Longjoy Sports in China—secured promotional rights to Meng’s mandatory challenge of unbeaten World light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev through a purse bid hearing held Monday at International Boxing Federation (IBF) headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey. News
Artur Beterbiev and Fanlong Meng are eager to meet in the ring, but their handlers now face the threat of third party intervention to determine when and where that fight will take place. With the 30-day free negotiation period passing without a deal being reached, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) has called for a purse bid hearing to determine who will get to promote the aforementioned light heavyweight championship fight.
WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford believes he's the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. He captured gold at lightweight, unified the entire junior welterweight division, and now holds the WBO title at welterweight. Many had experts pegged him as the top pound-for-pound man.
Joe Gallagher, head trainer for WBA super middleweight world champion Callum Smith, wants his fighter to have a major fight with a big name opponent, at Anfield, in 2020. This Saturday night, Smith will make a mandatory defense against John Ryder in Liverpool.
LAS VEGAS – Sergey Kovalev obviously doesn’t consider himself the most beatable among boxing’s light heavyweight champions. So no, the WBO light heavyweight champion doesn’t suspect Canelo Alvarez chose him as his first 175-pound opponent because the ambitious middleweight views him as a safer foe than WBC/IBF champ Artur Beterbiev and WBA champ Dmitry Bivol. Kovalev thinks Alvarez’s motivation is to beat the top light heavyweight in the sport Saturday night.
LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez and his trainers cannot see any reason why winning Saturday night would prevent them from fighting Artur Beterbiev. The Russian knockout artist is widely viewed as the most dangerous light heavyweight in boxing. Beterbiev has knocked out each of his 15 opponents, including previously unbeaten Oleksandr Gvozdyk in their title unification fight October 18 in Philadelphia.