Boxing

Artur Beterbiev Shoots Down Canelo Alvarez Fight, Open to David Benavidez

Artur Betrerbiev is not interested in fighting Canelo Alvarez. The Russian addresses David Benavidez.
Apratim Banerjee|
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Artur Beterbiev is set to take on Dmitry Bivol in a blockbuster rematch on February 22. Beterbiev edged out a controversial decision in the first fight between the two Russians.

Beterbiev has now reflected on his future plans after the Bivol rematch. Should he win, the 40-year-old is not interested in a Canelo Alvarez showdown. However, he is open to taking on David Benavidez.

Canelo has previously held the light heavyweight title after beating Sergey Kovalev. Beterbiev reckons at this moment, Alvarez has nothing to offer to him.

Beterbiev told Boxing News:

I’m not really interested in him [Canelo], because when he was the champion in my category, yes, I wanted to fight him, but now he doesn’t have anything in my category.

Speaking about Benavidez, Beterbiev said:

Of course – if he wants the fight. If he’s mandatory, we’ll need to fight.

Beterbiev's first fight against Bivol was a display of the highest quality and Beterbiev is itching to get back into the ring for the rematch.

Speaking about the rematch, Beterbiev said:

It’s a little bit better [to be training injury-free], yeah. Now we know each other a little bit better, than when we fought the first time. It’s helping. I wanted to grab all the belts [the first time]. Now I want to defend them. It’s motivating. We can say anything, everything, but during the fight, it’s always different.

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Apratim Banerjee
APRATIM BANERJEE

Apratim is a Boxing and Soccer reporter for On SI. He has been in the industry for five years, having also worked for The Sporting News, Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and more. After coming from an engineering background, he started pursuing a career in sports media. Apratim also holds an MSc. Sport Marketing degree from Loughborough University London and is a keen practitioner of social media and digital marketing. In his spare time, Apratim likes to play an array of sports and practice calisthenics. He is also an avid enthusiast of improving his martial arts skills.