Unified light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (25-1, 12 KOs) and his WBO mandatory challenger, Callum Smith (31-2, 22 KOs), have reached an agreement for a championship fight.
That’s according to WBO President, Gustavo Oliveiri, who announced Thursday that “the parties have reached terms, including an agreed date and venue.” Since then, reports surfaced that the fight is being targeted for December 12 in Russia.
Bivol has fought in world title fights since 2017, beating Canelo Alvarez and Gilberto Ramirez along the way. And though he lost the WBA championship to Artur Beterbiev in an undisputed title fight two years ago, he won all the belts in their rematch the following year.
After undergoing back surgery, Bivol returned to beat his IBF mandatory challenger, Michael Eifert, in May. He then wanted to pursue a third fight vs Beterbiev rather than face his WBC mandatory, David Benavidez. The WBC subsequently stripped Bivol of its title, and promoted interim champ Benavidez to full championship status.
After another surgery on his elbow, Bivol (35) will now look to get his mandatory obligation out of the way before hopefully pursuing a fight fans want to see — either the Beterbiev trilogy or a long-awaited fight vs Benavidez.