Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol have already staged two hugely important light heavyweight unification bouts between them, and slowly but surely the details surrounding a trilogy fight featuring the two Russian stars seem to be materializing.
Just not nearly fast enough for Beterbiev.
In a message posted to his Instagram account on Saturday, Beterbiev called out Bivol, seemingly implying that Team Bivol was stalling as the 40-year-old Beterbiev inches closer to the end of his career.
“I received hundreds of questions about the third fight, that’s why I decided to answer here,” Beterbiev stated in the social media post.
“As you know, the first fight for the absolute champion title took place in October last year. After five years of attempts to unify the belts, it was still successful. The day after the first fight, we agreed on a rematch, which was to take place within four months, despite the fact that I was [coming off an] operation and my coach and doctor were categorically against such an early rematch.
“After the second fight, I immediately showed interest in an early third fight, and at first there were rumors about the fight in August. But my opponent said in an interview that he wanted to hold it in late autumn, then at the end of the year, and now it is completely unknown when.”
Beterbiev, 21-1 (20 KOs), who held three of the four belts entering the fighters’ first meeting last October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, handed Bivol, 24-1 (12 KOs), his first career professional defeat in a majority decision that unified the division under Beterbiev.
When the rematch was quickly assembled, Bivol returned the favor in February by nicking Beterbiev for the first time in a majority decision back in Riyadh. Although Beterbiev has indeed been banged up over the years, and most recently required knee surgery to repair a ruptured meniscus, the procedure came in May 2024, postponing the originally scheduled date of the first fight with Bivol – but theoretically had no additional bearing on the rematch.
In the interim, Bivol has vacated one belt after being assigned a mandatory defense against David Benavidez and is now facing pressure from another sanctioning body to defend its version of the title against little-known Michael Eifert. Bivol and his team surely know the higher-profile and more lucrative fight is a third tussle with Beterbiev – and indeed it was reported by Ring Magazine that the trilogy fight was on Riyadh Season’s November schedule, and now it has the go-ahead from financier Turki Alalshikh to be moved to the fighters’ native Russia under different organizers.
Whether or not it’s a deliberate tactic, drawing out the wait until the rubber match clearly benefits Bivol, 34. Despite the fickle business of boxing, Beterbiev – after granting Bivol a rematch in a quick turnaround after his own win – can hardly be faulted for expecting the same courtesy as the clock ticks on his 40-year-old frame.
“[Dmitry], how old do I have to be so that we can fight for the third time?”
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at and followed on and .
