The main reason why Dmitrii Bivol sought to secure an immediate rematch with Artur Beterbiev has now come to light.
The Ring confirmed that Beterbiev has been ordered by the IBF to next face longtime mandatory challenger Michael Eifert of Germany. Both fighters were instructed to begin negotiations for their light heavyweight championship bout.
For those who would much rather see a Beterbiev-Bivol sequel, there is hope.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 knockouts) has leeway to request an exception to his mandatory for his next fight. Such practices are usually reserved for unification battles. However, the undefeated 39-year-old has already fully unified the division and won The Ring Championship with his October 12 victory over Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Many fans and even some media have questioned why Eifert (13-1, 5 KOs) is even close to the title stage. Unfortunately, they didn’t pay attention to the steps leading up to the Beterbiev-Bivol light heavyweight summit meeting.
Both fighters were informed before their bout that the winner would be on the hook to honor the overdue IBF obligation next. It was further pushed back when Beterbiev suffered an injury, postponing their originally scheduled meeting on June 1.
Eifert won the IBF no. 1 contender after a twelve-round victory over Jean Pascal last March 16 in Laval, Canada. Their final eliminator saw Eifert fight outside of Germany for the first time in his career and pick up an upset win in the hometown of the former line light heavyweight champion.
An anticipated title shot has been stalled due to Beterbiev’s postponed WBC mandatory title defense against Callum Smith. They were due to meet last August 19, but a tooth infection forced a five-month postponement until earlier this year.
Beterbiev knocked out Smith in the seventh round of their meeting on January 13 in Quebec City, Canada. He honored his WBC mandatory and also defended his lineal, IBF and WBO titles. The victory paved the way for an undisputed clash against Bivol, but not until another four-month postponement.
Eifert was given a busy fight. He won easily via second-round knockout over Carlos Jimenez (13-6, 12 KOs) on August 24 in his hometown of Magdeburg, Germany.
As previously reported by The Ring, Bivol has reached out to all four sanctioning bodies in hopes of forcing an immediate rematch.
His team filed a formal protest against the outcome of the fight, which meant Beterbiev demanded a twelve-round majority decision. Additionally, Vadim Kornilov, Bivol’s career-long manager, demanded an official review of the 116-112 card handed down by judge Pawel Kardyni. The card was generally considered an outlier. Immediate reaction after the fight suggested that Bivol deserved the draw, while most others drew.
The fight was financed by the Riyadh Season Group led by Turki Alalshikh, who expressed his interest in bringing it back. Beterbiev now has the option to request such an option from the IBF, which will then be placed before the IBF Board of Directors for approval.
Beterbiev became the sport’s first undisputed light heavyweight champion since 2002. Roy Jones held the WBA, WBC and IBF belts from 1999-2002. The WBO was not as well regarded then as it is today.
Bivol held the WBA title from November 2017 through his narrow loss to Beterbiev. It ended the sport’s second-longest active title reign among male titleholders. That designation now belongs to Beterbiev, whose IBF reign began one week after Bivol’s WBA title. The only fighter to have held a belt longer is WBA strawweight belt holder Knockout CP Freshmart, who was upgraded to full title in June 2016.
