WBO allows the Bivol-Beterbiev trilogy, delaying the mandatory title Callum Smith

The WBO Committee decided to allow the champion in the lightweight category Dmitry Bivol to fight his trilog match with the artura of Beterbiev, not to defend himself from the mandatory challenger Callum Smith. Temporary WBO champion Smith (31-2, 22 ko) can be fighting voluntarily next. WBO notices the interest of fans to watch the trilogy fight between Bivol (24-1, 22 KO) and Beterbieva (21-1, 20 KO). The buffalo won the rematch by the decision of the majority in 12 circles of the results of 115-113, 116-112 and 114-114.

Where is the new blood?

The American boxing public is tired of watching Bivol and Beterbiev. They want to see that a new blood is given the opportunity, but not necessarily Callum. He has already fought against the former IBF, WBC, the WBO champion Beterbiev last year in January and was knocked out in the seventh round. American fans want to see David Benavidez and David Morrell to fight in the fight for world titles in 175 against Bivol, instead of seeing him for the third time in a row fighting Beterbiev.

When champions fight the same person three times, it is unfair to competitors who are waiting for their opportunity to compete for the world title. They have been eating these struggles for two years, which is a long time. Who will say that Turki Alalshikh decides to see the immediate fourth struggle between Bigol and Beterbiev if he decides to do so? How many times the Turks will insist that Bivol and Beterbiev continue to fight? There should be new rules to prevent champions to repeatedly fight the same candidate, because at some point he is boring.

No room for growth?

Furthermore, he interferes with the growth of sports because only two fighters see the fans several times in the rematch that extend in the years. Imagine that this is happening in other sports where the team owners decide that they want to have three consecutive Super Bowls or NBA playoffs that include the same teams just because their games were competitive. That would hurt the leagues. It does the same in boxing.

Re: WBO Lightweight heavy weight

1. The WBO Championship Committee has decided that it is in the best interest of boxing and, most importantly, the fighters themselves allow the long -awaited trilogy of Beterbiev/Bivol to continue as planned.

– Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. (@Olivieriilaw) May 14, 2025