The trilogy contest between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol remains up in the air.
They have been viewed as the two best light heavyweight fighters in the world for the past number of years, leading to an undisputed title fight between the two men in October 2024.
It was Beterbiev who came out on top by majority decision, adding the WBA belt to his WBC, WBO and IBF titles, leading to an immediate rematch between the duo back in February.
This time it was Bivol who got his hand raised, with the fight again ending in a majority decision, handing Beterbiev the first loss of his professional career in the process.
A trilogy fight was then expected to take place next, with Bivol even vacating the WBC belt to favour the Beterbiev clash over a fight with mandatory challenger David Benavidez, but talk on the third meeting have quietened in recent weeks. Beterbiev has sent a message to his rival via social media asking for a reason behind the delay and questioning whether the trilogy will ever happen.
Beterbiev recently spoke out about his frustration over the delays, and it appears he may have decided to take a fight in the meantime in order to stay busy.
An initial report revealed that Beterbiev was in talks to for a clash against undefeated Najee Lopez, and now close friend of Lopez and WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr – who faces Devin Haney on that same card – has appeared to confirm the rumours with a post on social media.
“Y’all about to learn about the south. Sleep on us if you want.”
Lopez has a record of 14-0, 11 of those wins coming by knockout. While there is no official confirmation yet that the fight with Beterbiev will indeed take place, it continues to raise questions about whether or not the Bivol trilogy will indeed happen.
