Bivol Vs. Beterbiev 3 Eyed For October: U.S. Fans Lament Missed Benavidez Undisputed Opportunity

The Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev 3 trilogy match is potentially being discussed in October at the start of the Riyadh Season. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has already upgraded David Benavidez to full WBC light heavyweight champion.

Benavidez Waits

Bivol vs. Beterbiev 3 is an unpopular fight with U.S fans, many of whom are tired of seeing these two battle in tactical contests that resemble amateur, fencing-type boxing that doesn’t fit the average person’s interests.

People wanted to see David Benavidez challenge for the undisputed 175-lb championship against Bivol. Dmitry could have held onto his undisputed champion by fighting Benavidez first and then facing Artur Beterbiev in the first quarter of 2026.

It wouldn’t have been a big deal. Perhaps the reason the organizers of the event didn’t want to take that patch is the high probability of Bivol losing to Benavidez, which would mess up the trilogy with Beterbiev. However, if Bivol isn’t good enough to defend his titles against the young gun, Benavidez, what’s the point of artificially keeping him the undisputed champion? If you’re avoiding going to the battlefield for fear of losing, where’s the victory in that? I smell fear.

Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) already set the table for the third fight with Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) yesterday by vacating his WBC title after the sanctioning body had ordered him to defend against his mandatory Benavidez.

Undercard Needs

When the third Bivol-Beterbiev fight does happen, it’s expected to be shown on DAZN PPV, like the two previous matches. To get people in the U.S. interested in ordering the event, there will need to be some great fights on the undercard.

It’s not enough to stick the defensive artist Shakur Stevenson fighting one of his hand-picked weak fighters on the card to help him further his goal of getting a fight against Gervonta Davis.

If the Saudi organizers insist on using Shakur for the undercard, they need to match him against someone who has a chance of beating him, like Andy Cruz, Abdullah Mason, Jadier Herrera, or Raymond Muratalla. If he refuses to fight them, he should be excluded from the card. Fans don’t want to see Shakur fighting another electrician to make him look great. Entertainment-wise, Shakur is a loss. He’s NOT the guy to create interest from fans in ordering the tired rivalry between Bivol and Beterbiev.

That’s not going to work. There needs to be some solid fights this time because the first two events had undercards loaded with British and Australian fighters. There needs to be more balance with the undercard because they’re too loaded with Brits with scant talent, who are more manufactured-type fighters who don’t measure up. Leave out Hamzah Sheeraz.