maaxx.ca

The undisputed light heavyweight championship is nothing like what some are depicting, according to manager Dmitry Bivol. Vadim Kornilov, who has worked for a long time with the WBA lightweight champion in the 79.3 kg category, is very optimistic about the potential of an undisputed fight between Bivol and the WBO, WBC, IBF champion Artur Beterbiev.

Despite the fact that figures associated with the fight basically described it as a fight that wasn’t going to happen. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman recently said he would not allow Dmitry Bivol to challenge for his company’s belt, which would be needed to make an undisputed difference.

Sulaiman has previously said Russian or Belarusian boxers cannot fight for the WBC belt due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Surprisingly, Sulaiman released Beterbiev from this rule.

The reason is that Beterbiev has Canadian citizenship; Beterbiev has lived in Quebec for over a decade. Recently, Bob Arum, Beterbiev’s promoter, said he wouldn’t try to arrange a fight involving Beterbiev, for the same reason Sulaiman did.

But Kornilov, in a recent interview, said there is serious financial support for the fight from the Middle East. He also hinted that Sulaiman and Arum’s disagreements were not an obstacle to the ongoing fight, saying “politics” was not important.

“Right now everyone is supporting the idea of ​​this fight,” Kornilov told SecondsOut.com. “You have two fighters who want it. All the politics, I don’t think that matters. The money raised, that’s what matters.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of interest from the Middle East, from Abu Dhabi, from Saudi Arabia. They’re interested in a fight like this, which I think will help ensure that the fight to happen in the near future.”

Bivol, 32, last fought last November when he defeated Gilberto Ramirez by unanimous decision. A rematch with Canelo, whom he defeated last spring, was planned for the fall, but that idea now appears to be in jeopardy.

(aww)