Dmitry Bivol’s biggest ambition in boxing is to collect more titles, but he realizes some opportunities are easier to be had than others.
The WBA light heavyweight champion from Russia has made it clear his top priority is to become an undisputed 175-pound champion. More recently he has expressed interest in competing at 168, specifically for a rematch with that division’s undisputed champion, Canelo Alvarez.
Bivol defeated Alvarez by unanimous decision last May in Las Vegas in a defense of his WBA 175-pound title. The two are most likely headed for a rematch in the second half of 2023. Eddie Hearn, the promoter of both fighters, recently suggested that a rematch at 168 pounds, for Alvarez’s undisputed distinction, is in play.
“First of all, I want to get more belts,” Bivol told Boxing Social. “I want more belts. It doesn’t matter who. I just want belts. Light heavyweight or super middleweight, whichever is easier to make the fight, I prefer that fight.”
Either option, however, will present their own specific set of challenges for Bivol.
Alvarez’s preference, according to Hearn, is for their rematch to be staged at 175, meaning, if Alvarez, the cash cow of boxing, gets what he wants, Bivol would have to make do with another defense of his WBA belt.
A fight to gain any of the remaining three titles at the 175-pound limit figures to be an even trickier endeavor for Bivol because of corporate politics. Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom, rarely does any business with Top Rank, the company that backs WBO, WBC, and IBF Russian light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev. Indeed, Hearn and Top Rank head Bob Arum have feuded through the media over the years.
Last summer, upon Beterbiev’s knockout of Joe Smith Jr. to collect his third 175-pound belt, Arum told this outlet that he would not countenance a scenario in which he would let Beterbiev fight on a Matchroom-promoted card because, in that scenario, the event would then have to be streamed by Hearn's partner, DAZN, the over-the-top subscription streaming service that Arum has long ridiculed for middling viewership. Arum's Top Rank has a partnership with ESPN and "loaning" Beterbeiv out to a competitor would not be in their corporate interests.
Beterbiev is set to defend his belts against London’s Anthony Yarde later this month. Even if Yarde—a big underdog—ends up winning, the business politics for Bivol would not likely change; Yarde is backed by Frank Warren’s Queensberry, another adversary of Hearn, and who, moreover, has close promotional ties with Top Rank.
In the meantime Bivol, who is BoxingScene.com's 2022 Fighter of the Year, is enjoying the considerable “clout” he earned with his upset victory over Alvarez. Bivol followed that achievement up with a dominant points win over contender Gilberto Ramirez in October.
“I feel enough [respect] for this time,” Bivol said. “I should achieve more to get more attention. But now I’m glad with what I’ve got. [The respect] which I’m getting now is motivating me for the future to get more attention, to get more respect. It’s motivating, of course.”
