Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing believes that Bivol could be defending his WBA Super World Light Heavyweight title against British contender Dan Azeez as all negotiations to run it back with Canelo Alvarez proved futile.
Hearn believes that Azeez would benefit more from a direct title shot against Bivol rather than going through an eliminator with Buatsi. Negotiations are currently underway with Matchroom CEO, Frank Smith in contact with Azeez to explore the feasibility of arranging the fight.
"Bivol, I think will fight Dan Azeez, hopefully, if we can get the deal over the line, and those negotiations are ongoing. And then we’ll fight the winner of [Callum] Smith and [Artur] Beterbiev," Hearn told Boxing News
"I saw a press release saying that he’s fighting Joshua Buatsi. We spoke to Dan Azeez: he says he’s not agreed to fight Joshua Buatsi and obviously he’d much rather go straight into the Dmitry Bivol fight than have to fight for an eliminator for Dmitry Bivol."
Hearn believes that a fight with Bivol will put Dan Azeez in line to become a world champion as well as give him a huge payday compared to what he is looking at fighting Buatsi.
"Frank Smith has been negotiating and speaking with Dan Azeez. I like to give British Fighters an opportunity. Dan Azeez appears to be a free agent. It’s a massive opportunity for him and huge money to fight for the world title. …It’s up to Dan Azeez, really. If he wants to fight for the world title straight off the bat, which it would probably make sense, instead of going for an eliminator—but it’s got to work for him and then Frank Smith will continue negotiations with Dan Azeez," he added.
Beatrice Adamu is a writer for AceTVBoxing.com. She can be reached on Twitter @oh_stillbella or via email: adamubeatrice13@gmail.com.
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