Dmitry Bivol posted a message to his followers on social media today, saying he’s “waiting for the next move” from Turki Alalshikh and his team for his next defense of his light heavyweight titles. Bivol’s post on X clearly shows he’s waiting orders from his boss, Turki, to tell him who to fight next.
Fans on social media are unhappy about Bivol’s post, viewing him as a sellout, choosing to take the money fight that Turki wants against Artur Beterbiev and avoiding the more difficult defense against his WBC mandatory David Benavidez.
From a strategic standpoint, it’s far better for Bivol to fight the 40-year-old slow-footed, slow-handed Artur Beterbiev than to face ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez and have him ruin everything. When I say, ‘Everything,’ I mean the Canelo Alvarez bout that is clearly in the pipeline, Canelo will ONLY fight Bivol. He wants nothing to do with David Benavidez or Artur Beterbiev for obvious reasons.
The next move for Bivol, 34, will surely be a trilogy against Beterbiev, which will please fans and give him a chance to hold onto his belts a little longer. Some people still have an interest in seeing a third fight between them.
As of now, Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) is the undisputed 175-lb champion. However, he may need to vacate his WBC title if he chooses not to defend against his WBC-ordered mandatory David Benavidez next. That’s a fight that Turki said this week that he’s not interested in bidding on.
Bivol defeated Beterbiev by a 12-round majority decision in their rematch on February 22nd in Riyadh. It was a close fight that appeared to be a draw if you count the rounds both fighters won, but the judges gave it to Bivol, setting the table for a trilogy.
With the ‘Face of Boxing’ Canelo Alvarez signing a four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh, it’s essential that Dmitry Bivol defeat Beterbiev in the trilogy because he’s already said that he’s open to fighting him in a rematch.
Canelo has not expressed interest in fighting Artur Beterbiev or David Benavidez. It’s only Bivol. The Mexican star is fighting his first fight of his contract with Turki against William Scull on May 3rd in Riyadh and his second will be against Terence Crawford on September 13th. The third fight for Alvarez will likely be against Bivol if he’s victorious against Beterbiev in their trilogy.
If Bivol loses to Beterbiev, Turki will likely focus on matching Canelo against one of these fighters:
– Hamzah Sheeraz
– Chris Eubank Jr
– Conor Benn
