Another highly anticipated undisputed championship could take place in the Middle East.
Immediately after Artur Beterbiev, the unified WBO, WBC and IBF light heavyweight champion, knocked down challenger Callum Smith in seven rounds Saturday night at the Center Videotron in Quebec City, Beterbiev’s promoter Bob Arum indicated that a possible full unification fight between his charges and Dmitry Bivol, the WBA champion, could materialize later this year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Arum said there was great interest in that showdown from Turki Alalsihkh, head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, a body that oversees some of the oil-producing country’s biggest cultural events, including the Riyadh Season.
Alalsihkh has been responsible for some of the highest-profile boxing cards in recent months, including the heavyweight “crossover” event between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou last October and the heavyweight-focused card in December that It featured Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. separate fights. But the most notable boxing match that has been greenlit by Alalshikh is the upcoming undisputed heavyweight championship between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on February 17 in Riyadh.
“No, it’s not done yet, but we absolutely want to do it,” Arum told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna. “I will be speaking with my friend, His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh. I know he wants to do it, but Ramadan is coming up. So Ramadan ends in mid-April, so three months after the end of Ramadan we will be ready to fight Bivol probably in Riyadh.”
Beterbiev, a devout Muslim, does not fight during the Ramadan season, which begins in early March and ends in early April, as it requires him to fast.
Alalshikh himself published a post on week before the fight Fury vs. Ngannou last October in Riyadh.
Alalshikh also posted another post indicating his fondness for Beterbiev’s destructive victory over Englishman Smith, writing: “Awesome performance… congratulations brother, thank God I can sleep happy now…” He followed up with a separate photo of Beterbiev posing with his three belts.
Boxing fans have been clamoring for a fight between Bivol and Beterbiev, but corporate politics have plagued that matchup for years.
Liverpool’s Smith had never been on the mat as an amateur or professional until he fought Beterbiev, who knocked him down twice in the crucial seventh round, prompting Smith’s trainer, Buddy McGirt, to throw in the towel.
With the victory, Montreal’s Beterbiev, who will turn 39 later this month, keeps his undefeated record (20-0, 20) and perfect knockout rate intact.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mob, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.
