Boxing

Dmitry Bivol Vacates WBC Title, David Benavidez Elevated To Full Champion

Dmitry Bivol and David Benavidez were scheduled for a purse bid on Tuesday.
Nathaniel Marrero|
David Benavidez (center) with his WBC title after his unanimous decision win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
David Benavidez (center) with his WBC title after his unanimous decision win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk. | IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire

Dmitry Bivol is no longer the undisputed light heavyweight champion.

Ahead of a scheduled purse bid for a potential bout against David Benavidez on Tuesday, Bivol vacated his WBC title. Bivol's attorney, Pat English, sent a letter to WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman on Monday, notifying him of Bivol's decision, per Fight Freak Unite's Dan Rafael.

English also noted that Bivol's focus is on a third bout against Artur Beterbiev, which Rafael reported is likely to take place in October. They split the first two bouts, with Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) winning the first fight by a majority decision to become the undisputed champion on Oct. 12 and Bivol avenging the loss in their most recent bout, winning by majority decision on Feb. 22.

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Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) was the interim WBC light heavyweight champion and became the regular WBO light heavyweight champion with his unanimous decision victory over David Morrell on Feb. 1. He responded to the news on Instagram, saying that it isn't how he envisioned becoming the full WBC titlist and that he still plans to face the best at light heavyweight.

"Just got the news that Bivol decided to vacate his title, instead of fighting me," Benavidez wrote. "Now that makes me the WBC world champion at light heavyweight. This is not the ideal way for me to become world champion but nevertheless, I am now the WBC light heavyweight champion of the world, and I intend on putting the best fights."

BoxingScene's Jake Donovan reported that former super middleweight champion and interim WBO light heavyweight champion Callum Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) could be Benavidez's first defense of his WBC light heavyweight title. Smith defeated the previously unbeaten Joshua Buatsi (19-1, 13 KOs) to become the interim WBO light heavyweight champion on Feb. 22.

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Nathaniel Marrero
NATHANIEL MARRERO

Nathaniel Marrero is a writer for the Boxing, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Ravens On SI sites. He's also written for the Orlando Sentinel and MLB.com, and was a part of UCF's sports show, Hitting The Field. He attended UCF and graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023. Twitter/X: Nate_Marrero

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