Bivol Vs. Benavidez: Summer Fight Nears Finalization

Undisputed light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and his WBC mandatory opponent David Benavidez are close to finalizing a deal for a fight this summer on a yet-to-be-determined date and location.

Bivol’s promoters at Matchroom and Benavidez’s at Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) are putting the deal together, allowing Dmitry to keep his four belts. Last week, the WBC ordered Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) to begin negotiations with Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs), with a deadline of April 8th for the talks to be completed.

Negotiations Near End

“Attention attention!!! PBC and Matchroom are very close to finalizing a deal for Bivol and David Benavidez to face off this summer,” said JuliusJulianis on X.

Fans want to see Benavidez get his shot at the four belts at light heavyweight, as he earned it with his win over David Morrell last month. Moreover, there’s declining interest in seeing a third fight between Bivol and Artur Beterbiev after their previous two were more chess matches than entertaining brawls.

That’s where Benavidez comes in. His specialty is fighting, slugging it out with his opponents in nonstop action, and that’s what fans from the U.S and worldwide prefer to see. He’s got the kind of style that people in the modern era like to watch.

The winner of the Bivol vs. Benavidez fight can face former four-belt champion Artur Beterbiev or, if he’s feeling brave, Canelo Alvarez. Of the two, Alvarez would likely only fight Bivol because he’s not someone he would have to worry about being knocked out.

There’s no word yet from Turki Alalshikh about whether he’ll attempt to push for Bivol to fight a trilogy with Artur Beterbiev. Turki is believed to want that fight, and some feel that he’s not confident that Bivol can defeat Benavidez. Bivol stands a better chance of defeating the 40-year-old Beterbiev than he does ‘The Mexican Monster.’

The punishment that Artur Beterbiev dished out in the twelfth round against Bivol last month in their rematch on February 22nd, it would be like that in every round against Benavidez. He would be lighting Bivol up, forcing him to stay on the move, and try every trick in the book to survive.

If Turki decides he doesn’t want Bivol to fight Benavidez, it won’t happen. I don’t know why he would want this match to go down because the chances are high that Bivol will lose. He’s not going to get a rematch with Canelo coming off a loss to Benavidez, and being belt-less.