James Toney believes one rival can stop pound-for-pound superstar Dmitry Bivol.
The 34-year-old from Russia defeated countryman Artur Beterbiev in their thrilling rematch in Riyadh on February 22 to capture the undisputed light-heavyweight championship.
It was a stellar performance from Bivol, who had made the necessary adjustments ahead of his second encounter with Beterbiev, defeating the 40-year-old via majority decision to avenge the first defeat of his glittering career. Although he lost their first meeting, he became the only man to take knockout artist Beterbiev the distance.
Despite Bivol’s exceptional career skillset, retired four-division world champion James ‘Lights Out’ Toney is adamant that there is one active fighter who can stop the Russian star.
Speaking to Mill City Boxing, Toney backed newly-crowned WBC Light-Heavyweight World Champion David Benavidez to become the first man to claim a stoppage victory over Bivol if a fight between the stars should ever happen.
“Benavidez, he’s busier and hits harder. He stops Bivol … He hits harder than Beterbiev too but it would be a 12-round war with Beterbiev.”
Benavidez had held the WBC Interim title at 175lbs since he defeated former light-heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk via unanimous decision last year – a debut in the division for the two-time WBC super-middleweight champion. He followed up by defeating fared puncher David Morrell. The Mexican-American has 24 knockouts from 30 wins.
As the two Russians prepare to face off a third time, who Benavidez defends against remains to be seen. His options include Brits Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde, should the latter come through his next fight with Lyndon Arthur this month.
