Bivol begins preparing for rematch with Beterbiev

 On October 12, a boxing evening for the absolute world light heavyweight champion title was held in Riyadh, where Beterbiev won by a majority of votes from authoritative judges, adding the WBA Super title that belonged to his opponent to his WBC, WBO and IBF belts, and became the absolute light heavyweight champion. Both fighters were previously undefeated before the fight in Riyadh: 33-year-old Bivol held the WBA belt, and 39-year-old Beterbiev was the current WBC, WBO and IBF champion.

Beterbiev and Bivol will earn at least twice as much in the rematch as in the first fight. For the first fight, the boxers earned $10 million each - this is the largest fee in their careers for each of them. The tentative date for the rematch of the two athletes is currently scheduled for February 22 in Saudi Arabia in 2025. Bivol's trainer confirmed that arrangements for the upcoming meeting are already being actively discussed, and Dmitry is actively preparing to get even with his top-flight rival. There is no official information yet from the organizers of the fight, including Turki Al ash-Sheikh. 

Bivol has defended his world title nine times, most notably becoming the man to score an impressive points victory over Saul Alvarez in May 2022, and then outscoring Gilberto Ramirez 44-0 in Abu Dhabi in November. Injury forced Bivol to miss most of 2023 before he returned for the monster Day of Reckoning tournament in Saudi Arabia on December 23. Bivol defeated IBO light heavyweight champion Lyndon Arthur by unanimous decision, knocking out the Englishman in the 11th round. Bivol's fight with Artur Beterbiev was first announced for June 2024, but his longtime rival pulled out due to injury. Bivol remained on the card against substitute Malik Zinad, which led to a stoppage in the sixth round. However, when the fight with Beterbiev finally took place, Bivol lost.

Artur Beterbiev, a native of Dagestan, has a professional boxing record of 20 wins and no losses as of October 2024. He has a 100 percent winning record and has won all of his fights by knockout. Artur Beterbiev's boxing style includes a strong defense, a wide stance, and precise range control. His techniques are truly top-notch, and judging by his number of knockouts, his punching power is very, very impressive. Beterbiev delivers powerful jabs, hooks, uppercuts, and the Dagestani's calling card is constant, tough pressure on his opponents. It was with his technique that he once dealt with such boxing greats as Yunier Dorticos, Sergey Kovalev, Michael Hunter, Tavoris Cloud and, of course, Dmitry Bivol.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian sheikhs continue to assemble their dream cards, and next year we will most likely see such hot fights as Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev, Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker, Zhang Zhilei vs. Agit Kabayel, Jaron Ennis vs. Virgil Ortiz, Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield, Hamza Shiraz vs. Carlos Adames. And this is far from a complete list of the brightest MMA stars.