Artur Beterbiev’s reign as undisputed champion at Light Heavyweight might be cut short as institutionalised machinations could compel the undefeated knockout artist to abdicate.
Just a fortnight ago Artur Beterbiev established himself in boxing glory by becoming the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion in the four-belt era.
Despite this, it looks like he will be forced to lose one of his belts.
He defeated fellow countryman, Dmitry Bivol in a controversial majority decision.
The fight was billed as the puncher versus the boxer but throughout the fight, we learnt that knockout artist Beterbiev is much more than a puncher and the man will all the skills, Bivol, is far more than just a boxer.
We have learnt that the pair are set to have a rematch in their next fight, as confirmed by Dmitry Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn.
However, on the 17th of October, the IBF ordered Beterbiev to defend his world title against German Michael ‘Diesel’ Eifert (13-1).
Assuming the rematch takes place next, this will most likely force Beterbiev to vacate, unless a step-aside deal can be agreed with Eifert.
Whilst some sort of deal could be made, the chances are it won’t.
This is because the IBF historically have forced champions to vacate.
Most notably, Oleksandr Uysk was forced to vacate his IBF belt after defeating Tyson Fury.
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Therefore, it is likely that there will be a world title belt available in the light-heavyweight division.
Current mandatory challenger Eifert would likely fight next-in-line Australian Conor Wallace (14-1) for the vacant belt.
Former opponent of Beterbiev, Anthony Yarde could also be in for a shot at the vacant title.
However, it looks like he will be finally facing long-standing rival, Joshua Buatsi.
It’s disappointing for fans that just as we finally see an undisputed light-heavyweight fight for the first time since Roy Jones Jr versus Reggie Johnson in 1999, one of the belts is stripped away again.
This will also be the case for Dmitry Bivol, who will now not be able to recapture the titles that he lost.
Nevertheless, the opportunity to write the only wrong of his career so far should be a far greater motivator than any belt.
Nothing has been confirmed just yet, but it is now likely that, unlike the first fight between the two greats, the rematch will not feature all the belts in the division.
The IBF are very rigid as regards their mandatories , a similar scenario happened with Oleksandr Uysk.
By Samuel Opoku Amoah
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