LONDON — The undisputed light heavyweight championship bout between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in Saudi Arabia has been postponed after Beterbiev suffered a ruptured meniscus in training, promoters Top Rank Boxing said.
The bout, scheduled for June 1 in Riyadh, was set to unify Russian-born Canadian Beterbiev’s WBC, IBF and WBO belts with his Russian rival’s WBA championship.
“The plan is to reschedule Beterbiev-Bivol before the end of the year, and additional details will be provided in due course,” Top Rank Boxing said in a statement according to Reuters.
The two champions, both considered among the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, were due to face off in a highly-anticipated bout on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
In a post on X, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority Turki Alalshikh said the event would still go ahead; with former WBC champion Deontay Wilder taking on Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang on the undercard.
“After receiving news about Beterbiev’s injury, we will be postponing the Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight scheduled for June 1st until later this year,” Alalshikh added.
Beterbiev, according to ESPN, is expected to be out of action until September and Bivol could still fight on the June 1 card against a replacement opponent.
The fight was due to headline a card which will see five boxers promoted by Matchroom take on five fighters promoted by Queensbury.
It includes exciting heavyweight contests between Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, along with Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois.
But Beterbiev vs Bivol was undoubtedly set to be the highlight for boxing fans who have waited years to see the two undefeated Russians go head-to-head.
It had been labelled the ‘best fight in boxing’ by many observers.
Beterbiev is the only reigning champion in boxing with a 100 per cent KO rate, while Bivol was named Fighter of the Year after beating legendary fighter Canelo Alvarez in 2022.
The two champions in the division hold all the belts between them with Beterbiev boasting the IBF, WBC and WBO titles and Bivol the WBA crown.
Ryan Garcia, elsewhere, scored three knockdowns of Devin Haney and handed the WBC super lightweight champion the first defeat of his professional career in a dramatic upset.
Garcia, who went off as a 6-1 underdog, dropped Haney in the seventh, 10th and 11th rounds behind an explosive cocktail of speed and power to win a majority decision. “Come on, guys, you really thought I was crazy?” Garcia said afterward.
Garcia came out guns blazing from the opening bell, wobbling Haney with a left hook that sent the crowd into hysterics.
Haney took a more aggressive tack over the next few rounds and began dutifully working behind the jab, backing the challenger up, rocking him with a right hand in the third and visibly frustrating Garcia as he ate one counter after another while pressing for openings to land his prodigious left hand.
“I’m disappointed with my performance,” Haney said. “But I showed I’m a true champion and I can fight after being knocked down and hurt. He caught me early, caught me by surprise. We trained for [the left hook], but I got in there and I fell asleep, and he caught me with it.
“I was more surprised than hurt the first time. He jumped on me, like we knew he would, but I was just sleeping. I thought the ref let him turn his back and hold a little too much.”
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