Dmitry Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) won a fight through majority decisions against Artur Beterbiev (21-1) to claim (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring titles) undisputed light heavyweight championship at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
All judges at the fight favoured Bivol with different results as one judge scored it 116-112 but another judge scored 115-113 and the remaining judge scored it 114-114 draw.
Beterbiev had his first career defeat while taking home a majority decision victory in their initial match with the same three final scores.
The 40-year-old fighter revealed his deep interest in a trilogy with light heavyweight champion Bivol following his first defeat.
“I don’t know, I think this fight is better than the first fight but we’ll see. It’s now my time to come back,” Beterbiev said.
“Actually I didn’t want a second fight too; it’s not my choice but no problem. We’re gonna do a third fight, definitely.” Beterbiev added.
Bivol expressed his willingness to face any challenge although he needed time to recover from summer injuries.
During the camp he used anti-inflammation medication continuously because he suffered an injury. The 34-year-old champion intended to get better first before returning to competitions.
“I’m ready for any challenge usually but I want to rest a little bit because I have some injuries in summer and this time I got injured and I was using anti-inflammation [treatment] almost all of camp. I want to heal myself and then come back,” Bivol said.
The winner from their upcoming fight will need to fight against David Benavidez because he defeated David Morrell in a previous bout by unanimous decision but his fight slot will remain empty until both Bivol and Beterbiev resolve their unfinished business.
