Dmitry Bivol has another crack at becoming undisputed light-heavyweight champion next month when he rematches Artur Beterbiev following defeat in their first encounter.
Though Bivol became the first man to take ferocious puncher Beterbiev the distance when they met, the three scoring judges at ringside felt he didn’t do enough to win. In the rematch, he has vowed to be more conclusive.
Fans have welcomed the long-awaited rivalry finally making it through the ropes, and there is another reason to be excited for the shape of the light-heavyweight division in the near future. That is because two recent additions – David Benavidez and David Morrell – will fight to become the WBC’s mandatory challenger and thus a shot at the winner.
Both Benavidez and Morrell have impressive stoppage numbers and will put their undefeated records on the line on February 1 for the honour of the WBC Interim belt and the WBA Regular title.
Speaking to Miami 560 WQAM, Benavidez welcomed a fight with Bivol down the line and expressed his confidence due to past sparring sessions.
“I would definitely beat Bivol. I used to spar him back then and we had some amazing sessions but I always got the better of him. The last time I sparred him I was 21, 22-years-old. Now I’m more experienced. I turn 28 tomorrow so I’m coming into my prime. I’m more focused and more hungry a fighter. I know this David Benavidez will walk through Dmitry Bivol.”
Further discussing the gym work in an interview with Cigar Talk, Benavidez said Bivol’s team ended the session after he ‘lit him up.’
“I almost dropped him. I’m not lying, I don’t have to lie about anything. There was a lot of people that saw the sparring, it was a great sparring session. I sparred him a couple times, but the last time I sparred him I almost dropped him.
“I had got him into the corner, we were having 4 rounds and this was the last 20 seconds, I lit him up with 15-20 shots. I’m not lying about that at all. After that when the round ended they said they didn’t want to spar anymore.”
A lot must happen before a fight between Bivol and Benavidez is made, namely beating two extremely dangerous fighters in Beterbiev and Morrell. February, then, becomes a huge month for the future of the light-heavyweight division.
