Eddie Hearn says talks have begun for a Dmitry Bivol vs. David Benavidez fight for the undisputed light heavyweight championship, with discussions already held with Benavidez co-promoter Luis De Cubas. If the two fighters win their upcoming May bouts, the matchup would put all four major belts at 175 pounds on the line.
Bivol currently holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles, while Benavidez owns the WBC belt after moving to the top of the division earlier this year. Hearn said, “That’s a fight that we’re discussing with Louis De Cubas,” and added, “We need guys like that who want to be great. Want to win the belts, want to become unified and undisputed, want to become multi-weight world champions,”
The timing matters because both men have business to handle before the division can be unified. Benavidez is scheduled to face Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in a cruiserweight title fight on May 2 in Las Vegas, where Ramirez brings the WBA and WBO cruiserweight belts into a bout at the 200-pound limit. Bivol is set to defend against Michael Eifert on May 30 in Russia.
That leaves the path to an undisputed light heavyweight fight dependent on results in two different weight classes and two different countries. Benavidez has already climbed to the top of the 175-pound division, and Bivol remains the man with three titles, but neither side can move toward a unification bout unless both survive May intact.
If that happens, the division would finally get the kind of title consolidation Hearn is openly asking for, with the four belts and the two biggest names at 175 pounds all pulled into one fight.