King of the light-heavyweight division once again, modern great and future Hall of Famer Dmitry Bivol has a number of exciting options for the future. Bivol, who avenged his sole loss to Artur Beterbiev on Saturday night, in so doing regaining both his WBA title and his position atop the 175 pound division, with him also taking the WBC/IBF and WBO belts, spoke after his big win. And the 34 year old who thrilled us all in his brilliant sequel with Beterbiev – who also shone, even in losing – said he could move up in weight in his next fight, or perhaps down.
As per ESPN.com. Bivol says he will look at what big fight is offered to him next, and “as always, I just wait for [the best] offer and I say yes.”
Reportedly, Turki Alalshikh is interested in the third instalment of the Bivol-Beterbiev trilogy, this quite naturally. While the Saudi money-man is also interested in seeing Bivol make the move up to cruiserweight, and perhaps take a fight with Jai Opetaia. In addition, there is a good chance Bivol could fight David Benavidez, in what would be a really interesting clash of styles. While Bivol says he would also like to fight a rematch with Canelo Alvarez, down at 168 pounds.
“I’m open for any fight,” Bivol said shortly after his revenge win over Beterbiev. “I want to heal myself and then move forward again. Trilogy, Benavidez, Canelo….As always, I just wait for offer and then say yes.”
So, it’s a deep pool of options Bivol, 24-1(12) is swimming in. Speaking as a fan, the third fight with Beterbiev simply has to happen; how on earth could this great rivalry be left at 1-1? But after that, assuming he won, Bivol against Benavidez could be one of the most interesting and potentially thrilling fights to be made today. A return with Canelo would see Bivol pick up the kind of huge payday his talents deserve, but does Canelo really relish the idea of going back in with the man who pretty much took him to school when they fought a few years back?
As for Bivol the cruiserweight, he against 200 pound top-dog Opetaia would be yet another utterly fascinating ring encounter. Can Bivol carry the weight at 200 pounds and be as effective, as darn effective as he was against Beterbiev in their rematch? If he can, look out Opetaia and maybe one or two other guys at cruiserweight. It would be a shame if the light division lost Bivol, but it sure would be the cruiserweight division’s gain.
Whoever Bivol fights next, it’s sure to be a big fight, maybe a massive fight. One we fans will all be tuning in to see. On another note, basing things on how special he looked in the Beterbiev rematch, with Bivol perhaps putting on a career-best showing, where does he deserve to rank in the current pound-for-pound lists? Top-5 at least, right?
