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The conversation of moving down to super middleweight is back in play for Dmitry Bivol.
This time, it would come as he has other options rather than sacrifice purely out of necessity.
Another dominant showing came in the career of the reigning WBA light heavyweight titlist, who effortlessly turned away the challenge of Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez. The November 5 battle of unbeaten light heavyweights—which headlined a DAZN show from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi—was a reminder that Bivol is far from the physically biggest fighter in the division, as Ramirez looked like a heavyweight in comparison.
The win was the fourth for Bivol (21-0, 11KOs) since resuming his career following the pandemic. There was a point during that downtime where the 31-year-old Kyrgyzstan-born boxer was considering a move down in weight, as his career was at a standstill at the time. Such a move would have been to pursue a fight with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (58-2-2, 39KOs), who he would go on to face and soundly outpoint in a light heavyweight title defense earlier this May.
Talks have surfaced of a potential rematch next spring, with the possibility of Bivol fighting at super middleweight for the first time in his career.
“It’s not my preference, but we could,” admitted Bivol. “[F]or four belts… it’s interesting fight. Why not? But remember, I am light heavyweight. This is my weight.”
Bivol has fought at light heavyweight for the entirely of his eight-year pro career. He was 179 pounds for his November 2014 pro debut, having never weighed lighter than 173 ½ pounds which came in his March 2019 points win over Joe Smith Jr. The rest of his five-year title reign has seen Bivol enter at a tight range of 174 ¼-174 ¾ pounds.
That said, he was strongly considering the move as recently as 2020, at a time of uncertainty over when and where his next fight and first big opportunity would take place. Options abound now exist, as Bivol is in a voluntary phase of his title reign. The win over Mexico’s Ramirez (44-1, 30KOs) satisfied his mandatory title defense obligation, which was key in Bivol moving forward with bigger fights.
Chief among them is a desired unification bout with lineal/WBC/IBF/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18KOs) for the division’s undisputed championship.
Beterbiev isn’t quite blessed with the same luxury, however. The Chechen knockout artis—who is based out of Montreal—is already scheduled to next face WBO mandatory challenger Anthony Yarde (22-2, 21KOs) on January 28 at The O2 In London. Waiting in the wings is WBC number-one contender Callum Smith (29-1, 21KOs), while former champ Jean Pascal (36-6-1, 20KOs) and Germany’s Michael Eifert (11-1, 4KOs) will meet to determine the leading IBF contender.
In a way, it once again leaves Bivol with a limited number of attractive options—hence the consideration of fighting at a weight he hasn’t seen since his amateur days.
“When I fought at 75 kilograms [roughly 165 pounds], I was fighting first to make weight and second, against my opponent,” admitted Bivol. “I decided that I don’t want to make that weight. But I worked with nutritionists and learned how to make weight.
“Before the weigh-in for this fight, I ate. I had a small breakfast and then came to the scale to make weight. I think we could talk about it, of course.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox