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Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider
Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol will meet in a rare match between the two best fighters in the division to crown the first light heavyweight undisputed champion in the four-belt era Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (ESPN, 5:30 p.m. ET).
Beterbiev (20-0, 20), the WBC, WBO and IBF titleholder, is boxing’s only champion with a 100% knockout ratio. He has been a 175-pound champion since 2017.
The fight has been years in the making. There hasn’t been an undisputed champion in the division since Roy Jones Jr. vacated one of his titles in 2000 (three-belt era).
“I want a good fight. I’m preparing for a good fight,” Beterbiev said during a news conference Thursday. “We’ll see. … Be ready, Dmitry. I will be ready.”
Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs), the WBA champion, was elevated from interim titlist to full titleholder in 2017 and has made 12 defenses of the belt since.
Beterbiev and Bivol were scheduled to fight June 1 but a month before the bout, Beterbiev suffered a ruptured meniscus and underwent knee surgery, forcing the postponement. Bivol wanted to keep busy and fought Malik Zinad on that date, a sixth-round TKO victory, his only stoppage win in his past 10 fights.
“Artur is a great champion,” Bivol said. “He has what I want. He has the belts. And it’s not only about belts. When I look at his skills, I want to check my skills also against this amazing fighter.”
Stay here for fight results and round-by-round analysis.
