As per sources, Bivol will still fight on the card, with a replacement to be announced for the injured Beterbiev. Who do you think Bivol will fight instead. My expectations aren't high although the Saudi's do make me optimistic about match ups in boxing. My first choice would be Buatsi. Would LOVE Benavidez to take Beterbievs spot though but hes already busy sadly. Got a feeling it will be Yarde. Yarde is fairly high-profile tbf to him but Bivol would give Yarde the schooling of all schoolings.
This is bad news. Beterbiev gets injured a lot. A great fighter, but annoyingly injury prone. Hope that they can still make a fight with Bivol and Beterbiev at some point.
The problem is that Beterbiev is the only one who can match Bivol while all the others have no chance...
They'd have to pay Kalajdzik some step aside money, but why not? Benavidez should also consider doing the same thing. This is a huge opportunity for both fighters to lift a belt from Bivol and position themselves to face a dimished Beterbiev. It's at least worth considering.
No chance it will be Morrell or Benavidez. They are jockeying for Beterbiev's belts in case he vacates soon. Participating in the masterclass by Bivol is not in the cards for them.
I would guess Yarde or Buatsi, which should be easy enough fights to make - at least we know Yarde is game and comes to fight I can't imagine Callum Smith would want to come back from his defeat to Beterbiev by facing the boxer that schooled the guy that schooled him! Personally I don't think it matters - only Beterbiev I think gives Bivol the test and challenge he needs to get him out of cruise control. I know Benavidez's camp has alluded to having success with Bivol in sparring, but given how much David struggled to pin down Plant, I'm not sure how much weight I give to that