Is Dmitry Bivol's Boxing Legacy Beginning To Tilt?

Dmitry Bivol has been everywhere this summer—everywhere, that is, except the boxing ring.

On social media he is a man at ease, strolling through the streets of Paris and striking a familiar tourist pose beside the Leaning Tower in Pisa.

The Florentine city, once home to Galileo, has seen its share of stargazers, but you'd need more than a telescope to spot Bivol in the boxing headlines these days.

As he faces indecision, is Bivol’s boxing legacy beginning to tilt?

In the span of just a few months, he vacated his WBC light heavyweight title rather than face boxing’s boogeyman of the moment: David Benavidez. The pair appear no closer to fighting again this year.

Bivol vs Beterbiev Trilogy?

Dmitry Bivol last fought Artur Beterbiev — IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Fans hoping for a third fight against Artur Beterbiev look set to be disappointed this year. Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) seems in no rush to face Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) again, despite their split record.

Their last fight in Riyadh was billed as “The Last Crescendo,” and unfortunately that appears to be the case.

After their first bout, Bivol loudly protested the decision, insisting he had done enough to win. Beterbiev graciously granted him the rematch. The this time with the ledger even, it is Bivol who is hesitating.

Both clashes between the two men have been cerebral and razor-close. Ringside at the rematch, many in the press scored it for Beterbiev. After the final bell, your author caught up with Teofimo Lopez who captured the feeling of many boxing fans: how epic it would be to witness an undisputed four-belt trilogy—a first in boxing history.

But it never came to pass. In boxing we can’t have nice things. And now, if they fight again at all, it won’t be until next year.

Floyd Mayweather was widely criticized for “aging out” Manny Pacquiao, sidestepping their long-anticipated bout until 2015—five years after it should have defined the era. Beterbiev’s camp worries Bivol is trying to do something similar.

As such, Beterbiev returns to the ring on November 22nd, part of a historic and stacked Riyadh Season card. He turns 41 in January and inactivity can be brutal on an older fight.

Dmitry Bivol has achieved much. But the next 18 months will define not only what he has achieved, but which way his own towering legacy will lean.

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