Beterbiev and Bivol Trilogy move to Russia: both fighters prioritize payday in their homeland, which is advantageous over Riyadh

Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol of IBF, WBA and WBO Light Heavyweight Champion will not be playing trilogy matches as planned in November. They chose to fight in Russia at the still-decided date and venue.

New Organizer, Russia Payday

Reported by Mike Coppinger Turki Alalshikh is not involved. He founded the first two Battles of Betervievvibor, which were staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Coppinger says another organizer “promised a salary that would benefit them.”

It’s hard to imagine they could make more money than Turki pay them. They reportedly made $10 million each in two battles in Riyadh. Russia is the home country of Bibor and Betterviev.

Bivol (24-1, 12 Kos) still lives there. So it makes sense that he wants it at home. He does not need to travel to Riyadh for the trilogy.

Bivol’s IBF title risk

The IBF mandatory is for the Bibolus of Challenger Michael Eifart. Bivol has already been stripped of his WBC title earlier this year when he chose not to defend his mandatory David Benavidez. If he does not defend against Eifart next, he could be stripped of his IBF belt.

Bivol still has two belts to defend Beterbiev (21-1, 20 Kos) for the trilogy. Given the popularity of the two fighters and their achievements, it doesn’t matter whether the title is unavailable in the third fight. Fans will still want to see them fight, especially in native Russia.

Fan fatigue from the trilogy

Our boxing fans wanted Betterviev and Bibolu to fight each other and rest from someone else getting a chance. It’s not so interesting for people to see the same fighter fight three times in a row without facing other people. Trilogy matches are fine, but not when battles occur in a row.

There was much interest in getting the opportunity to challenge the WBC title that David Benavidez holds when Bivol became a mandatory belt. However, rather than defending him, Biboru chose not to fight him, forcing the WBC to strip him. Some fans believe Bivol was a pressure fighter and he was afraid to lose to Benavidez because he had problems with these types.