Beterbiev looks ahead to Bivol after Smith KO: '[Bivol] is not a good guy'

Artur Beterbiev claimed the 20th knockout victory of his career in as many fights Saturday with a seventh round stoppage over Callum Smith at the Centre Videotron in Quebec City.

The defending IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight world champion dominated the Englishman in a widely praised performance. 

A long-awaited unification clash with fellow Russian and WBA belt holder Dmitry Bivol is all but confirmed for Saudi Arabia later this year.

"He [Bivol] always talks like this," Beterbiev said to ProBox TV. "For the last five or four years he tells everyone that he’s gonna fight the next fight with me. Now he says [it again] when I have a fight in two weeks.

"He then says he has already signed the contract [to fight me]. How can he say that he has signed a contract with me because I have another fight?"

Beterbiev waved his hand towards the side of head while laughing to himself to suggest Bivol may have a problem with his mind. 

With obvious sarcasm, he continued: "He is a real boxer, you know?" — a comment which drew a laugh from many of the local journalists at the press conference. 

ProBox TV confirmed that a deal is still to be negotiated between both champions at 175 pounds. 

"But it is like this always when you have two fighters," Beterbiev said. "I know nothing about the fight or date, nothing. He already signed! How is that? I don’t know. It is always like this with boxers, you know."

Beterbiev was pressed on whether Saudi Arabia had made any offer to him for a unification clash with Bivol. 

"No, I don’t know that," he said. "I tell you, nobody tell me dates. He tell me, but I don’t believe him. He’s not a good guy."