Dmitry Bivol will rematch Artur Beterbiev in 2025.
Bivol missed out on his bid to become undisputed light heavyweight champion in October when he suffered a majority decision defeat to Beterbiev.
The former WBA champion will have a chance to get redemption when they meet again in February.
Ahead of the fight, another 175lb contender has fired a warning out by revealing that he got the better of Bivol and nearly knocked him down during a sparring session.
That man is David Benavidez, the former two-time WBC super-middleweight champion who moved up to light heavyweight for his last fight, defeating Oleksandr Gvozdyk to win the vacant WBC interim belt.
Next up for Benavidez is a clash with WBA Regular light heavyweight champion David Morrell in January, where a victory could earn him a showdown with the winner of the Beterbiev vs. Bivol rematch.
With a potential future clash with Bivol on the horizon, Benavidez has told Cigar Talk just how their sparring session unfolded.
“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.”
Benavidez has already given his prediction for the Beterbiev vs. Bivol rematch, and feels there is only one key factor that prevents a Bivol victory.
