"Strike now" - Eddie Hearn says Dmitry Bivol ready for Undisputed Title fight vs. Artur Beterbiev

Matchroom Sport chairman Eddie Hearn thinks Dmitry Bivol is ready to fight for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Title against Unified Champion Artur Beterbiev.

Bivol, who instantly rose to stardom after defeating Canelo Alvarez in twelve rounds, currently holds the WBA Light Heavyweight Championship. Bivol's belt is the only missing strap for IBF, WBC, and WBO 175lb champion Beterbiev to become the Undisputed World Champion.

Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Hearn appealed to the camps of Bivol and Beterbiev to make the fight happen and give the fans what they want. He even predicted Bivol to come out on top in the potential matchup. The British promoter said:

“Bivol is ready to fight for the undisputed [title]. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in boxing where people say, ‘Bivol is ready, he wants to become undisputed’. What are you waiting for?... Let’s do the undisputed [fight] next. Why do we have to wait? The fact is, people know now how good Bivol is. He's the best 175-pounder in the world. Beterbiev is a beast, by the way, but he doesn’t beat Dmitry Bivol.”

Hearn also cautioned about making Bivol wait for his shot at the coveted undisputed crown. He stated that Bivol might look to do another title defense at the end of the year, after which they will plan a rematch with Canelo, so the time to fight Beterbiev is now:

“Let’s make that fight now. September, October, November, not waiting ... if you want to be undisputed, strike now... I back Dmitry Bivol any day against Beterbiev, who is a great fighter, but Bivol is a special, special fighter.”

Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who promotes Beterbiev, previously turned down a potential fight between the two light heavyweights of Russian descent.

Watch Eddie Hearn's interview below:

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Dmitry Bivol wants undisputed title at 175 lbs

Dmitry Bivol is setting his eyes on unifying the belts in the light heavyweight division. He said this after Artur Beterbiev demolished Joe Smith Jr. in their unification bout at the Hulu Theater in New York City last weekend.

Beterbiev scored a massive second-round TKO to collect the WBO strap from Smith. This sparked calls for an undisputed championship showdown with WBA champion Bivol.

When asked by SkySports about a potential undisputed match at 175lbs, Bivol said:

“Yes, of course, it is my goal.”

He added:

“I watched the [Artur Beterbiev vs. Joe Smith Jr] fight. As I have said before, I am very excited about unifying all the belts in the division.”