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Artur Beterbiev is looking to fight Dmitry Bivol sooner rather than later.
The 37-year-old is fresh off a knockout victory over Joe Smith Jr. last Saturday night at the Hulu Theatre in New York, moving to 18-0 in his pro career. The win saw him earn the WBO Light Heavyweight title, giving him a third belt at his waist.
However, he's still missing one title, the WBA (Super) light-heavyweight crown. The belt is held by the one and only undefeated Dmitry Bivol. The 31-year-old is fresh off a wide unanimous decision win over Canelo Alvarez last month at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
There's little doubt that a fight between Beterbiev and Bivol would be one of the biggest fights in the sport, and that's what the former wants next. In an interview with FightHype following his knockout victory over Joe Smith Jr., the light-heavyweight champion stated:
"I'd prefer to have a unification fight [with Bivol]. I hope it's next, because they always talk about they want to fight, let's go. He always tells that he wants to fight next, but I don't know what he knows about next... If he wants to fight, let's do it."
See Artur Beterbiev's interview with FightHype below:
Will Artur Beterbiev fight Dmitry Bivol next?
While Artur Beterbiev wants to fight Dmitry Bivol next, there are serious issues holding that bout back from happening next.
Prior to Beterbiev's knockout of Joe Smith Jr. last Saturday, it was revealed that the winner would fight Anthony Yarde in England later this year. It's now already emerged that the matchup has a date and venue.
Fans can look forward to Beterbiev vs. Yarde taking place in October at the O2 Arena in the U.K. However, even if the 37-year-old wasn't busy, Bivol has other things that he has to deal with first.
The Russian is fresh off his victory over Canelo Alvarez last month. While there was some speculation that the two would have an immediate rematch, it didn't come to fruition. Alvarez is now booked against Gennadiy Golovkin in September.
However, Alvarez and Bivol have agreed to meet following the former's trilogy fight with 'GGG'. Sadly, with the news in mind, fans will have to wait a while to see the Undisputed Light-Heavyweight Championship fight.
Bivol could also potentially defend WBA (Super) Light Heavyweight Title against Joshua Buatsi.
