Dmitry Bivol could make his comeback on the Devin Haney vs. Regis Prograis undercard.
That is according to Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn. Bivol has been out of the ring for close to a year since his win over Zurdo Ramirez via a unanimous decision. Prior to that, Bivol showed his credentials by dominating Canelo Alvarez on his way to a decision win to retain his WBA light heavyweight title.
Since then, the failure to secure an opponent and an injury has hampered his progress. A rematch with Canelo broke down after disputes over the weight class. Alvarez wanted to run things back at 175, while Bivol favored a fight at 168 for Canelo’s undisputed titles. In and amongst that, a hand injury has kept Bivol out of the ring. But now boxing fans could finally see him making a comeback.
“There are talks about him possibly fighting on the Haney show, but we’re in talks with DAZN. December 2nd was potentially a U.S. that will probably become a UK day now. I don’t know how that will sit with Dmitry Bivol, but he needs to fight and is ready to fight,” Hearn said
This naturally begs the question: who could Bivol fight? Well, the current WBA rankings place Joshua Buatsi, Dan Azeez and Anthony Yarde as the top three respectively. The first two fighters have reportedly turned down the chance to face Bivol. As for Yarde, would the Brit want to face Bivol having lost to Artur Beterbiev and Sergi Kovalev in his two world title fight attempts? And since an opponent has not been confirmed, there is a perception that Bivol is being avoided.
“He’s a guy that is so dangerous that people want to stay away from him because the risk is not worth the reward,” Paulie Malignaggi stated