Saudi Arabian boxing lover and promoter Turki Alalshikh has granted Dimitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev’s to fight in Russia after fighting twi in Riyadh Season.
The Dmitry Bivol-Artur Beterbiev trilogy fight for the Ring Magazine light heavyweight championship was on the Riyadh Season schedule for November, The Ring has learned.
However, fellow Russians Bivol and Beterbiev both asked Turki Alalshikh to hold the fight in Russia with different organizers, and he gave his blessing.
And now, it’s unclear when the third fight will happen.
Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) won the first contest in October, 2024 via majority decision to become the undisputed champion at 175 pounds. The decision was controversial and Alalshikh moved quickly to deliver the rematch.
Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) won that return bout in February, 2025 to exact revenge via majority decision in a far more entertaining fight than the first meeting.
Alalshikh said afterward he would finalize the trilogy later this year; both fights took place in Riyadh.
And now those plans have changed as Bivol and Beterbiev seek to hold the fight in Russia after an organizer promised them lucrative paydays, sources said.
Bivol was stripped of his WBC title earlier this year.
David Benavidez was elevated to WBC champion, and he’ll defend that title vs. Anthony Yarde in November in Riyadh, the same card that had planned to hold Bivol-Beterbiev 3.
Bivol, 34, is The Ring’s No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer. Beterbiev, 40, is No. 5.
