Artur Betterbiev and IBF, WBA and WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Dmitri Biblical will not fight their trilogy match in November. They have chosen to fight in Russia on an yet set date and venue.
New organizer, Russian payday
Mike Coppinger reports That Turki Alalshikh will not be involved. He erected the first two better Biev-Bivol fights, both performed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Coppinger says another organizer promised their “profitable pay days.”
It is difficult to suggest that they can make more money than Turki would pay them. They reportedly earned $ 10 million for their two battles in Riyadh. Russia is the homeland biblical and better biev.
BIVOL (24-1, 12 food) still live there. So it makes sense that he wants it at home. He does not have to travel to Riyadh for the trilogy.
BIVOL’s IBF title risk
The IBF is compulsory thanks to Biblical for the challenger Michael Eifert. Earlier this year, Biblical title was stripped of his WBC title when he chose not to defend against his compulsory David Banavidez. He can be stripped of his IBF belt if he does not defend against Eifert next, which he probably won’t do.
Biblical would have two more belts to defend against Betterbiev (21-1, 20 COs) for the trilogy. Given the popularity of the two fighters and their achievements, it doesn’t matter if there are no titles at stake for their third battle. Fans will still want to see them fighting, especially in their native Russia.
Trailer fatigue with trilogy
American boxing fans wanted to see betterbiev and Biblical take a break to fight against each other and get someone else a chance. It is not so interesting for people to see the same fighters fight three times without standing in between. Trilogy matches are in order, but not if the fighting occurs in succession.
There was a lot of interest in David Banavidez getting a chance to challenge for the WBC title that held Biblical when he became the compulsory for that belt. But rather than defending against him, Biblical chose not to fight against him and forced the WBC to strip him. Some fans believe that Biblical was afraid to lose against Benavidez because he is a pressure fighter and that he has problems against those kinds.
Last updated on 07/04/2025