Following a 17-month layoff, unified WBC and IBF Light Heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs) returned to the ring this past Saturday in Moscow, Russia, and scored a 10th-round stoppage victory over Adam Deines to retain his titles.
Before Saturday, Beterbiev hadn’t competed since scoring an emphatic victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019, but he looked sharp, dropping Deines multiple times en route to victory.
Now healthy and back to competition, Beterbiev has his eyes on other title unification bouts at 175 pounds.
“Yes, we are interested in a unification fight for one of the titles,” said Beterbiev’s head trainer, Marc Ramsey (via Boxing Scene). It does not matter against whom. Either it will be the winner of the Bivol-Richards fight or the winner of the Vlasov-Smith fight.”
On April 10, Joe Smith Jr. and Maxim Vlasov will square off for the vacant WBO title. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has repeatedly expressed his interest in matching the winner against Beterbiev, who’s also promoted by Top Rank, in a three-belt unification fight.
Dmitry Bivol, meanwhile, is slated to defend his WBA title against Craig Richards on May 1, and the winner of that bout could also serve as a potential opponent for Beterbiev.
Another name that has often been linked to Beterbiev is Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Currently, Alvarez is campaigning at Super Middleweight, where he holds the WBA and WBC titles. He’s next set to meet WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders on May 8 and has expressed his interest in becoming an undisputed 168-pound champion before the end of 2021.
It’s currently unclear if Alvarez has any interest in returning to 175 pounds, but he did score a knockout victory over Sergey Kovalev in 2019 to win the WBO title. However, he then vacated the title, which Smith and Vlasov will fight for, and moved back down in weight.
Given that both Canelo and Beterbiev are considered amongst the best fighters in the world, a bout between the two would certainly be of great interest to the boxing community. And it’s one the Russian champion would happily accept.
“Canelo is a cool boxer, I like him. It will not be an obstacle to enter the ring with him if there is an offer. I would gladly fight,” Beterbiev said.
