Artur Beterbiev and Dmitrii Bivol are to fight in Saudi Arabia on June 1, according to Turki Alalshikh.
The undisputed light heavyweight title fight will be staged at a venue that is still to be confirmed. Alalshikh also confirmed that the “Matchroom versus Queensberry five-versus-five” promotion, involving five fighters from Matchroom against another five from Queenberry, will serve as the undercard.
Those involved will be revealed the week of Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou, according to Eddie Hearn; two weight classes will be selected by each of Hearn and Frank Warren, and Alalshikh will choose the fifth. “The noise behind Matchroom v Queensberry is actually probably bigger than any other fight I’ve promoted,” Hearn told Boxing King Media. “My call with George [Warrren] was to say, ‘Let’s get together in London; let’s start to put some meat on the bones around these match-ups’. We know the date now and the weight classes will be worked on and announced.”
Beterbiev dominated Callum Smith in January to defend, in seven rounds, his IBF, WBA and WBO titles. Bivol last fought in December, when he outpointed Lyndon Arthur.
“Many people talk about his power, but they forget about his technique,” Bivol recently said of his fellow Russian. “His power is much better than his technique. But he still has good technique.”
