IBA president, Umar Kremlev, says he’s made several offers to IBF, WBA and WBO world light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and his team for a third and deciding match against former champion and current WBA and WBO No. 1 contender Artur Beterbiev with no success.
Bivol, 25-1 (12 KOs), and Beterbiev, 21-1 (20 KOs), split a pair of Turki Alalshikh-funded majority 12-round decisions for the undisputed championship in Saudi Arabia in October 2024 and February 2025, with Beterbiev winning the first encounter and Bivol gaining revenge in the rematch.
Plans for a rubber match between the two have been discussed frequently since then but haven’t materialized.
“Everyone is waiting for this fight. I don’t know why Bivol and his team are not accepting the offer, but I will do my best to make this fight happen,” Kremlev told The Ring’s Manouk Akopyan. “I’m very disappointed.”
Kremlev claims an offer he made to Team Bivol recently was for “two times a bigger offer than in previous fights,” but no fight materialized as a result.
Bivol returned from back surgery in August 2025, and 15 months of inactivity, to defend his WBA and IBF titles against Michael Eifert of Germany via a lopsided unanimous decision on May 30 of this year at the UMMC Arena in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
The WBO officially mandated Bivol to defend his title against interim champion Callum Smith shortly after the fight and Bivol has indicated he will do so after recovering from reparative elbow surgery he had on July 4.
Bivol vacated the WBC title in April 2025, rather than face then-mandatory challenger David Benavidez.
Kremlev also says Beterbiev, who hasn’t fought since losing his undisputed championships to Bivol in the February 2025 rematch, remains eager for the fight and has accepted offers to make it happen.
