Another highly anticipated undisputed championship could be headed for the Middle East.
Immediately after Artur Beterbiev, the unified WBO, WBC, and IBF light heavyweight champion, demolished challenger Callum Smith in seven rounds on Saturday night at Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Beterbiev’s promoter, Bob Arum, indicated that a potential full unification bout between his charge and Dmitry Bivol, the WBA titlist, could materialize later this year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Arum said there was strong interest in that matchup from Turki Alalsihkh, the head of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Entertainment, a body that oversees some of the oil-producing country’s most significant cultural events, including Riyadh Season.
Alalsihkh has been responsible for some of the most high-profile boxing cards in recent months, including the heavyweight “crossover” event between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou last October and the stacked heavyweight-centric card in December that featured Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder in separate fights. But the most noteworthy boxing match that has been greenlit by Alalshikh is the upcoming heavyweight undisputed championship between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on Feb. 17 in Riyadh.
“No, it’s not done yet but absolutely, we want to do it,” Arum told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna. “I’ll be talking to my friend, his excellency, Turki Alalshikh. I know he wants to do it, but Ramadan is coming. So Ramadan ends sometime in the middle of April so three months after the end of Ramadan we’ll be ready to fight Bivol probably in Riyadh.”
Beterbiev, a devout Muslim, does not fight during the Ramadan season that begins in early March and ends in early April as it requires him to fast.
Alalshikh himself published a post on X (formerly Twitter) that seemed to indicate his desire to see the two Russian light heavyweights finally swap punches in the ring: it featured a picture of Beterbiev and Bivol in an informal face-off that took place in the week leading up to the Fury vs. Ngannou fight last October in Riyadh.
Alalshikh also published another post indicating his fondness for Beterbiev’s destructive win over England’s Smith, writing “Impressive performance…congratulations brother, thanks to God I can sleep now happy …” He followed that up with a standalone photo of Beterbiev posing with his three belts.
Boxing fans have been clamoring for a fight between Bivol and Beterbiev but business politics have plagued that matchup for years.
Liverpool’s Smith had never been down on the canvas as an amateur or professional until he fought Beterbiev, who dropped him twice in the pivotal seventh round, prompting Smith’s trainer, Buddy McGirt, to throw in the towel.
With the win, Montreal’s Beterbiev, who turns 39 later this month, keeps his undefeated record (20-0, 20) and perfect knockout ratio intact.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.