Purse bids for Bivol vs. Smith have been scheduled.
Dmitry Bivol’s WBO mandatory defence against interim champion Callum Smith has been a fight with an air of uncertainty surrounding it essentially since it was first ordered.
In the eyes of many fans, the bout was not as desirable as a trilogy fight with Artur Beterbiev or an undisputed match with current WBC champion David Benavidez, the latter of which would see Bivol fighting for the belt he relinquished during his time out of the ring due to back surgery.
In addition, it was assumed by a lot of people in the sport that those involved–as well as Bivol himself–would prefer those two options over the Smith match.
Certainly, it seemed this was very much the case when Eddie Hearn (the promoter of both Bivol and Smith at Matchroom Boxing) claimed that it was his belief that Bivol would choose to vacate his WBO title and pursue the rubber match with Beterbiev.
In that scenario, Smith would end up fighting for the vacant title in a rematch with Joshua Buatsi, whom he had his first fight with on the undercard of the rematch between Bivol and Beterbiev.
That happens to be the most recent time Smith stepped into the ring, with a planned bout this April against David Morrell falling through after Smith suffered an injury.
And when Morrell was shockingly stopped by Zak Chelli, it was decided that Smith would jump the eliminator and go straight into a title shot against Bivol.
That was according to WBO president Gustavo Olivieri, at least, who announced today on social media that since Bivol and Smith could not reach an agreement in time, their bout will go to a purse bid.
The purse bid has been scheduled to take place on the 27th of August.
Re: Bivol/Smith – WBO Light Heavyweight Mandatory
Please be advised that, as the parties were unable to reach terms within the negotiation period established by the WBO, the matter will now proceed to Purse Bid proceedings, as previously advised.
The Purse Bid will be conducted…
— Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. (@OlivieriLaw) August 21, 2026
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