Hearn Explains Why Bivol Declined WBC Title Defense

Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn has revealed why unified light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs), who holds the WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO titles, turned down a title defense against WBC champion David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) in favor of a third fight against Artur Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs).

“His Excellency (Turki Alalshikh — ed.) organized the rematch, even though he wasn’t obligated to. Part of that agreement was that if we won, we’d get a third fight against Artur Beterbiev. So I was very surprised at how quickly that order [from the WBC] came through.

Don’t forget, Dmitry Bivol had just won the WBC title. There’s usually a grace period for a new champion. This wasn’t a case of a fight being mandated long ago with Benavidez waiting for years. He had just beaten David Morrell — and then boom: negotiations, boom: purse bid, boom: public announcement of an offer.

When have you ever seen someone from the sanctioning body publicly reveal how much Dmitry Bivol was offered? It all felt like pressure tactics to push him into taking the fight.

The money simply doesn’t compare to what he’ll earn facing Beterbiev. And even if they offered $20 million, we have a contract and we gave our word — and to us, that’s binding. We don’t break our promises. We will have that third fight. And we will continue to work with His Excellency, who gave Dmitry an incredible opportunity.

In my opinion, Mauricio [Sulaiman] and the WBC are in a tough spot, being pulled in every direction. But it’s vital that the biggest fights in boxing take precedence, even if that sometimes clashes with mandatory defenses. To me, Bivol vs. Beterbiev is the pinnacle of this division. We’ve already had two of the best fights I’ve ever witnessed. Why not let them run it back a third time?” Hearn stated.

As a reminder, David Benavidez was recently elevated to full WBC light heavyweight champion (175 lbs). He previously held the interim belt and was expected to face Bivol, who declined the bout. Instead, Bivol is preparing for the trilogy fight with Artur Beterbiev, with their series currently tied 1–1.

Among the top contenders to face Benavidez next is British fighter Callum Smith.