If he retains his three light heavyweight belts in his match against Britain’s Anthony Yarde in London on Saturday, boxer Artur Beterbiev will try to convince Dmitry Bivol to face him.
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The IBF, WBC and IBO champion would love to get his hands on the WBA belt from Bivol (21-0-0, 11 KOs); The Russian, at 175lbs, holds the only major title escaped from Beterbiev (18-0-0, 18 KOs). He didn’t hide his intentions when he was recently interviewed by TV channel iFL.
“Obviously I want this fight,” he replied tersely a few days before his clash with Yarde (23-2-0, 22 KOs) at Wembley Arena.
Aside from a possible defeat at the end of the week, however, one obstacle could thwart his plans. In fact, Bivol has an opportunity to grant a rematch to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, whom he defeated by unanimous decision on May 7th. The Mexican had climbed the category to snatch the crown from his rival, to no avail.
“I’m not thinking about that,” Beterbiev snapped back.
Coach Marc Ramsay’s protégé is headed to England for his first fight since defeating Joe Smith Jr. by KO. 18th of June.