Bob Arum apparently has no appetite to see a unification match between light heavyweight stalwarts Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
The president of Top Rank Inc. promotes WBC/IBF 175-pound champion Beterbiev, who has made a name for himself over the past few years as one of the more destructive (read: entertaining) fighters in the sport. The undefeated Beterbeiv (17-0, 17 KOs) has knocked out every single one of his opponents, his latest victim being Marcus Browne, whom the 36-year-old Russian stopped in the ninth round on Dec. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Yet for all the intrigue Beterbiev presents inside the ring, Arum cannot say the same for Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs), a skilled and talented fighter who owns the WBA version of the light heavyweight crown but who has seen his reputation diminish with consecutive listless performances. The Kyrgyzstan-born Russian native exploded onto the American boxing scene in 2017 but since then his safety-first mentality has not endeared him to fans.
For that reason, despite Beterbiev’s propensity for producing blood-curdling stoppages, Arum is not about to campaign for a matchup involving Bivol anytime soon, bluntly saying recently that he simply thinks Bivol is “boring.”
“That fight has really no pizzazz to it,” Arum told IFL TV. “Bivol is a very good boxer. Sort of [a] boring fighter.”
Bivol is coming off a dominant points win over Umar Salamov in Ekaterinburg, Russia this past December. Once again, however, he failed to impress his critics by refusing to press for a stoppage.
A Beterbiev-Bivol unification bout would be difficult to achieve, anyway, at least on paper. Bivol is promoted by rival outfit Matchroom, who has a long term deal with DAZN. Arum’s Top Rank has an exclusive network deal with ESPN.
In any case, Arum has other options for Beterbiev, most notably the hard hitting Joe Smith Jr., the holder of the WBO 175-pound bauble. Long Island’s Smith (27-3, 21 KOs) is set to defend his title against rugged Brit Callum Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs) on Jan. 15 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York. Arum expects fireworks in that bout.
“You know, again, people look at the light heavyweight division, they want to see shootouts,” Arum said. “[For example], Beterbiev’s last fight with Browne. Like this upcoming Smith fight with Callum Johnson.
“Bivol is an excellent boxer, but he’s sort of boring to watch.”
