Bivol to take on former titlist from Britain.
It was in early February of last year that Dmitry Bivol became the undisputed light-heavyweight world champion by claiming victory in his rematch with Artur Beterbiev.
It was assumed by many that because of the entertaining and successful nature of their two bouts that the pair would likely go straight into a trilogy, their third fight for all the 175-pound marbles.
Only, that has not occurred. Instead, Beterbiev has not fought since (with a planned bout against Deon Nicholson on the David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde undercard falling through last November), and Bivol was out of the ring for over a year.
The reason for his absence was that he was recovering from surgery, and this was also the reason he relinquished his WBC title, which Benavidez was given and successfully defended against Yarde.
Bivol would finally make his return this May, taking care of IBF mandatory obligations in a hometown victory over Michael Eifert. Immediately after, fans called for either the Beterbiev trilogy or Benavidez fight.
But when the WBO ordered Bivol to defend against another mandatory in former super-middleweight champion Callum Smith, those bouts seemed less likely to take place next.
And despite Eddie Hearn’s stated opinion that Bivol would likely give up the WBO belt to instead appear in those big fights, that will not be the case.
It has now been confirmed that both Matchroom Boxing and RCC Boxing Promotions have agreed to a deal for Bivol to defend his unified championship against Smith.
Smith–who last fought against Joshua Buatsi on the Bivol-Beterbiev 2 undercard–will be going into his second title shot at light-heavyweight.
The WBO have confirmed RCC and Matchroom have agreed a deal for Ring and unified light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol to face mandatory challenger Callum Smith, with an agreed date and venue for the contest.
Purse bids were due to take place today. pic.twitter.com/Y0GSRFndTg
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) August 27, 2026
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