Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol are just over one month away from crowning the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
The last man to collect all belts in the division was Roy Jones Jr, and either the ferocious Beterbiev or the collected Bivol will join him on October 12 in that exclusive club.
Beterbiev has knocked out every man he has stepped into the ring with – the only current world champion who can boast such a feat – whereas Bivol has just one stoppage in has last ten but is a master at controlling distance, pace and fights in general.
Former world champion Shawn Porter said on his podcast that Bivol’s boxing ability will shine come fight night and that Beterbiev will fall short of an early finish for this first time in 21 contests.
“Artur Beterbiev is going to take a lot of punches like he always does and I don’t think he can catch up to Dmitry Bivol. Nope [he can’t drag Bivol into a fight]. Too damn disciplined. Too much lateral movement. Too intuitive. Good boxer.”
The fight was initially postponed from June 1 due to Beterbiev rupturing his meniscus in training camp. How he has recovered from that injury has been kept quiet and his fans will hope that, at 39-year-old, he has at least one more great performance in him. He was last out in January of this year, stopping Callum Smith in seven rounds.
Bivol is the more active of the champions, having beaten Lyndon Arthur over the distance in December of 2023 and stopped Malik Zinad this June.
