The best two light heavyweights in the world are finally set to collide.
It’s been seven years since that claim could be made and more than 20 years since the last recognized undisputed champion.
Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol met the media and each other ahead of their long-awaited 175-pound championship. Their clash was confirmed during a press conference held Monday at Outernet London. They will meet on June 1 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The divisional summit meeting will come with The Ring belt, every sanctioning body title and true championship lineage at stake.
“In every division, we should look to find an undisputed champion,” stated Eddie Hearn, Bivol’s co-promoter. “It tells you who the very best is.”
There is no question that Beterbiev and Bivol are the only two who can participate in that conversation.
Beterbiev (20-0, 20 knockouts) is No. 1 at 175, No. 5 pound-for-pound and the unified WBC, IBF and WBO titlist. The Russia-born, Montreal-based knockout artist is also the recognized lineal champion. Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) is No. 2 at 175, No. 6 pound-for-pound and owns the WBA title.
Each have held one major belt since 2017, among the longest reigning active titlists in the sport. Fittingly, that same year was the last time any fighter held The Ring light heavyweight championship.
Hall-of-Fame two-division champion Andre Ward was the last recognized king at the weight. He twice defeated Sergey Kovalev to earn the honor before he retired after their June 2017 rematch.
Their two-fight set also carried the WBA, IBF and WBO titles. Adonis Stevenson held the WBC belt at the time and was also the previously recognized Ring champ. He was stripped of that honor in November 2015 for failure to defend versus a Top 5 opponent in more than two years.
Stevenson and Kovalev ran parallel paths atop the light heavyweight division during that entire two-year stretch.
For years, Beterbiev and Bivol were resigned to the same fate. Beterbiev fights on ESPN and its platforms through promoter Top Rank. Bivol has largely fought on DAZN through his alliance with Matchroom Boxing.
Beterbiev refused to offer a reason as to why the two sides couldn’t agree prior to earlier this year. His longtime divisional rival did his best to provide that context.
“Of course, in boxing we know what happened,” explained Bivol. “All of the fighters with belts were with Top Rank. I asked my team for this fight. I got answer that there was no person who would make this fight.
“Now we have His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh], who loves boxing. He loves this fight, so now it’s happening.”
From an alphabet sense, the division hasn’t celebrated an undisputed champion in 25 years.
Roy Jones Jr. unified the WBC, WBA and IBF titles in a June 1999 shutout win over Reggie Johnson. The Ring title was given to Jones by default upon the magazine’s reinstated championship policy in late 2001.
However, even that part came with dispute and sparked a years-long debate.
Dariusz Michalczewski was regarded by historians as the true lineal champion after his June 1997 points win over Virgil Hill. The win saw a then-unbeaten Michalczewksi unify the WBA, IBF and WBO titles and claim the lineal championship.
The WBA ridiculously stripped Michalczewski of its title on the sport for displaying it next to the WBO belt. Next to go was the IBF title. The two-month postponement in their belt left a deadline of just five weeks to face mandatory challenger William Guthrie. The timeline was a non-starter, as were the politics of the matchup. Guthrie was signed to Don King, with whom Klaus-Peter Kohl, Michalczewksi’s promoter, refused to do business.
Jones’ undisputed run (the WBO wasn’t as widely recognized at the time) lasted until 2002, when he vacated the IBF belt. His Ring championship reign ended when he was knocked out by Antonio Tarver in the second round of their May 2004 rematch.
There was a slim window in that seven-year stretch when Jones and Michalczewksi had the chance to meet. HBO was keen to deliver the fight, though reasons vary as to why it never saw the light of day.
Michael Spinks was the last recognized Ring, lineal and undisputed light heavyweight champion.
Those worlds were brought together in a March 1983 decision win over Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Spinks even survived alphabet title expansion with the arrival of the IBF 175-pound title in 1984.
The reign was kept intact until 1985, when Spinks dethroned Larry Holmes for The Ring and IBF heavyweight championship.
At age 39, Beterbiev is second only to Erislandy Lara (41) among the sport’s oldest active male titleholders. He was only a few months old at the time Spinks abdicated the light heavyweight throne.
Injuries and illness have limited his activity, though not his path of destruction.
Beterbiev will attempt his tenth title fight win and seventh with two or more belts at stake. The last came in a seventh-round knockout of Callum Smith (29-2, 23 KOs) on January 13 in Quebec City. He’s outlasted the sport’s politics to keep his three-belt reign intact and position himself to collect the final chip.
“I see another belt,” Beterbiev coldly stated when asked what he sees in Bivol. “I’m collecting belts. I need one more.”
Bivol, six years Beterbiev’s junior at age 33, will attempt his twelfth full title win.
He previously held a secondary version of the WBA title. Full recognition came after his November 2017 first-round knockout of Trent Broadhurst. Ten more wins followed, though he largely remained among the sport’s most avoided fighters.
It wasn’t until his May 2022 victory over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) when he received his due recognition. A lopsided decision over then-unbeaten Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez later that November clinched Bivol’s 2022 Fighter of the Year campaign.
“When I signed the contract to be a pro boxer, I had a goal to be undisputed,” noted Bivol, who outpointed Lyndon Arthur last December 23 in Riyadh in his most recent defense. “Everything I went through… was to get to my goal.
“Even when I beat Canelo, it was my ticket to get to the big fights. I’m happy now that I have my chance on June 1.”
It may be a long time coming to crown a light heavyweight king. For the matchup to fill that void, there is no question it’s been worth the wait.
Credit: Ring Magazine
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