Date and location for Bivol vs. Smith revealed.
After taking time out of the ring during his recovery from surgery, Dmitry Bivol returned in May of this year to defeat IBF mandatory challenger Michael Eifert.
This came 15 months after his rematch victory over Artur Beterbiev, arguably the most significant victory of his career. It was that win that made him the undisputed light-heavyweight champion.
After his win over Eifert, fans called for a trilogy against Beterbiev or a fight against David Benavidez, who was upgraded to WBC champion when Bivol vacated the strap during his absence from the ring.
However, the WBO then ordered Bivol to defend against Callum Smith, who holds their interim championship (which he won from Joshua Buatsi on the Bivol-Beterbiev 2 undercard).
It was previously stated by Eddie Hearn (who promotes Bivol at Matchroom Boxing) that Bivol would likely vacate the WBO title and favour fights with Beterbiev or Benavidez over the Smith fight.
But then Matchroom CEO Frank Smith stated that the likely outcome was that Bivol would be taking on Callum Smith, with purse bids approaching at that time.
Frank Smith had also claimed that locations such as Russia (Bivol’s homeland), the United Kingdom (Callum Smith’s homeland), and Monaco were being considered to stage the bout.
Yesterday, news arrived that a deal had been reached for Bivol and Smith to face off, and now the likely date and venue for the fight have been revealed.
According to BoxingScene, officials involved in negotiations have stated that the matchup will be taking place on the 12th of December in Russia, marking Bivol’s second homecoming defence in a row and the first time he has fought in Russia consecutively since his 2016 win over Yevgeni Makhteienko and his 2017 stoppage of Robert Berridge.
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