WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman claims that Dmitry Bivol rejected an $8M offer to defend against his mandatory David Benavidez. Instead, Bivol jettisoned his WBC title instead of facing Benavidez to pursue a trilogy match with Artur Beterbiev.

$8M Rejection

Sulaiman has since upgraded Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) to the new WBC 175-lb champion. He announced that move on social media. Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) has taken a lot of criticism from fans, many of whom feel that he ducked a difficult fight against Benavidez in favor of a more lucrative payday against former undisputed champion Beterbiev.

Potential Reasons for Bivol Rejecting $8M Offer

– Fear
– Promised Beterbiev trilogy
– More money
– Turki

That’s a fight that the Saudis want, even though the Bivol-Beterbiev rematch on February 22nd failed to bring in big PPV numbers. It reportedly did 55,000 buys in the U.S and 340,000 worldwide.

Benavidez Threat

Turning down $8 million for a fight against Benavidez makes Bivol look like a craven coward. Many fans will believe the worst because Bivol struggles against pressure fighters, and Benavidez is one of the best. Dmitry is already rich from his first two fights with Beterbiev.

So, even if he chose to fight Benavidez next, he’d still have a bank account stuffed with dough and he wouldn’t be bad off if Turki chose not to make the trilogy fight with Beterbiev later.

Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) gave Bivol hell with the pressure he put on him in their two fights. The reason he lost the rematch last February is that he stopped throwing punches from rounds 7 through 11. He lit Bivol up in rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 12. Bivol didn’t really win, but the judges gave him a win. So, it works out financially for him and Beterbiev.

Benavidez, 28, is bad for Bivol and Beterbiev because he’s a lot younger and fighting at a higher level than either of them. Artur would have a better chance of beating Benavidez, but he likely wouldn’t due to his advanced age and his low work rate. He thinks too much before throwing shots now and is gun-shy. Beterbiev didn’t used to be like that, but age is kicking in.

Bivol rejected an 8 million dollars offer from Benavidez: WBC https://t.co/96cAJoc81i

— Salvador Rodriguez (@ChavaESPN) April 8, 2025