Dmitry Bivol’s $8 million rejection: Did David Benavidez’s fear outweigh the defense of a lucrative, indisputable title?

Dmitry Bivol reportedly declined a $8 million offer to defend the incontroversial light heavyweight championship against WBC’s forced David Benavidez. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has revealed that Bivol (24-1, 2 Kos) has turned down a contract to fight Benavidez.

Bivol’s big offer

ESPN Knockout Salvador Rodriguez reports that Sulaiman said Bivol’s wallet was $2.7 million in his rematch with Artur Beterbiev. Bivol was rumoured to have received $10 million in two fights with Beterbiev.

The battle between Bivol and the “Mexican Monster” Benavides (30-0, 24 Kos) has more interest in fans than the third one in Artur Beterbiev. Fans have already seen the battle between Bivol and Beterbiev twice. It’s a battle where two matches have lost much of its luster as they failed the war. They were technical chess matches.

These kinds of fights are OK to watch once, but not three times in a row without resting halfway through something more interesting among the brawlers. Beterbiev is a knockout artist, but his feet and hands are too slow to keep up with Bivol. At 40, Artur’s stamina was not what he once was. David Benavides would have made it exciting in his way He hunted Biboru And force him to fight and surrender.

Bivol surrendered the WBC Light Heavyweight title, shook Benavidez and managed to compete in a trilogy match with Artur. If his wallet is larger than the $8 million he would have got, it’s okay for the Dormitory to do this.

Have you avoided a style conflict?

From Bivol’s perspective, he wants to fight the aging Betterviev rather than face the much younger, faster, massive puncher Benavidez. His chances to defeat Artur are greater than if he had fought Benavidez.

Bivol rejected Benavidez: WBC’s $8 million offer https://t.co/96cajoc81i

– Salvador Rodriguez (@chavaespn) April 8, 2025