Boxing Rumors: Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev Undercard Could Feature Deontay Wilder, Daniel Dubois Fights

On June 1, Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev will settle the light heavyweight division’s undisputed argument. It will follow the high-profile Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk epic on May 18. The heavyweight fight will tag along after a slew of exciting line-ups, such as the IBF cruiserweight bout between Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis. But it seems the Bivol and Beterbiev headliner will offer an equally intriguing undercard.

IFL TV, through its official Twitter handle, shared a likely list of supporting matches. There’s still no confirmation on the fixtures. However, if proven true, then each match has the potential to get the audience on the edge of their seats. Both Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev won their last outings. It thereby ensured a headline berth at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Prelude to Light Heavyweight Greatness: Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev Undercard

The IFL TV post stated that Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev will try to stake a claim on the undisputed title. But two heavyweight fights might bear witness to a hard-hitting clash between Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, as well as Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois.

“Rumored card for June 1st in Saudi so far: Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol: Undisputed Light-Heavyweight Championship. Deontay Wilder – Zhilei Zhang. Filip Hrgovic – Daniel Dubois. Which fight do you like most out of the above?” the message read. 

Deontay Wilder Vs. Zhilei Zhang

Wilder and Zhang now share one thing in common. They suffered their last defeat at the hands of one man, Joseph Parker. The American former heavyweight champion met his fate at ‘The Day of Reckoning’ on December 23. The Chinese heavyweight received his second professional defeat early this month at the ‘Knockout Chaos’.

However, speaking to a bunch of reporters, incidentally, Frank Warren, while replying to a question on the heavyweight fight, said, “I got nothing to say about it shouldn’t have been out.”

Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois

The Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois setup sounds a bit more interesting. For a long time, it was thought that the unbeaten Croatian heavyweight would be a neat choice for a line-up against Anthony Joshua. The former stands first on the IBF list. Hence, a fight against the former unified heavyweight champion, ranked third on the same roster, could have ideally closed the question of the title challenger. But Dubois’ entry had made the situation a bit more gripping.

Now, the winner of the Hrgovic and Dubois fight will have to take on Joshua to stake a claim to the vacant IBF title. Given the fact that Tyson Fury and Usyk have agreed upon a rematch, in all likelihood they might vacate the IBF belt and retain the rest as they move forward towards the second bout.

Raymond Ford vs. Nick Ball

Apart from the above, there are reports of the newly crowned featherweight champion, Raymond Ford, taking on Nick Ball. While the former took home the vacant WBA featherweight title on March 2 this year, the latter drew up against WBC champion Ray Vargas. A win over the Briton might push Ford towards title unification.

Callum Smith vs. Anthony Yarde and Johnny Fisher vs. Solomon Dacres

Then there remains the light heavyweight fight between Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde. Both have been defeated by Artur Beterbiev in a span of 12 months. Finally, another all-British clash may find heavyweight Johnny Fisher slugging it out against Solomon Dacres.

The 5 vs. 5 Puzzle

Per available accounts, outside of the Beterbiev-Bivol fight, the rest of the cards pertain to Queensbury and Matchroom: 5 vs. 5. However, it could all be subject to last-minute changes. According to an article on BadLeftHook, the Wilder-Zhang fight could headline the show. So Queensbury head Frank Warren reportedly picked his choice of fighters from the heavyweight and middleweight divisions. Then Eddie Hearn, it seems, went after the featherweight and light heavyweight divisions. Seemingly, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh did the honors of selecting the left-out wild card match-up.

The piece reported being 99.9% sure about the Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority bringing about the Wilder-Zhang fight.

Read More: Robert Garcia Picks Dmitry Bivol to Defeat Artur Beterbiev but There’s a Catch

Who do you think will be the next undisputed light heavyweight champion? Please share your views with us in the comments below.

Also Read: “I Don’t See It Going Past Five”: Artur Beterbiev’s Former Sparring Partner Gives Brutal Verdict on Potential Fight Between Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol