WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol suffered a torn meniscus in his knee in a match with IBF/WBC/WBO 175-pound champion Artur Beterbiev, and will be withdrawn as he is recovering and will fight a replacement opponent. It will remain on your card for the 1st of the month.
Fans want Morel as Bivol's opponent
ESPN report Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) will remain on the June 1 card at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.What fans on social media want to see david morel He will play against Bivol instead.
Morel is currently scheduled to fight Radivoje Karadzic for the vacant WBA “regular” light heavyweight title on August 3rd at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Turki Alarcik's card.
It would be better for boxing fans, Bivol, and His Excellency if Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) ignored the idea of fighting the 32-year-old Karadzic and went for the main WBA 175-pound title on June 1st. That would be a good thing.
It won't take Morrell and Bivol, both 26, long to prepare, but it could be worth it if they have the funds.
Who else could fight besides Bivol?
There's no word yet on who is being considered to replace Bivol, but given the short time until June 1st and how weak the light heavyweight division is, we'd expect someone to be a good fit. You probably can't. Fans won't want to see Bivol defend against disappointing players like Anthony Yarde, Dan Azeez, or Joshua Bouatsi.
Bivol won his only fight of 2023, a 12-round decision over Lyndon Arthur. Before that, he defeated Gilberto Ramirez and Canelo Alvarez in 2022.
The June 1st card is still strong without Beterbiev, but it would be better if Bivol fought Morel. In some ways, this could be a better matchup than the one originally scheduled.
Morel is only 26 years old and will be an interesting matchup against Bivol, who uses three-punch combinations and a lot of movement to win his fights. Against Morel, it will be difficult for Bivol to fight like that without getting clipped like he did in his last fight with Lyndon Arthur.
June 1st cards continue to be exciting
– Deontay Wilder vs. Jiray Chan
– Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois
– Raymond Ford vs. Nick Ball
– Willie Hutchinson vs. Craig Richards