Boxing
Bivol faces D-Day call on WBO crown as Hearn mulls Smith title shot
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Eddie Hearn acknowledges Dmitry Bivol has a choice to make regarding his future as WBO champion amid his future plans.
The unified light-heavyweight star returned from a lengthy lay-off last month with a comfortable victory against Michael Eifert.
That has set the stage for the star to make a mandatory defence of his WBO strap against interim champion Callum Smith.
But Hearn acknowledges that the lure of an Artur Beterbiev trilogy or a crack at David Benavidez leaves Bivol with a hard call.
Fury and Hall up the tempo
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"Dmitry wants the biggest fights in the sport," the Matchroom boss told Boxing Scene. "He's had his little run out against Eifert.
"Now he's got to decide if he's going to fight Callum Smith or vacate the WBO. There's a lot of interest in the Beterbiev fight.
"It's a fight that's important to Dmitry. I think the Benavidez fight is a great fight. But so is the Callum Smith fight. We've got to see.
"If he vacates, Callum Smith will be elevated. [It is] not what [he] would have wanted, but he'll go and defend against a big name."
Could Bivol decision tee up Smith-Buatsi II stakes?
DAZN News correspondent Andrew Steel
It has felt that for some time, it might have been a hard sell for Dmitry Bivol to keep his WBO crown and avoid Callum Smith too.
The Briton is a live threat at light-heavyweight, but with other lucrative options on the table, he has felt a little bit like an outsider.
If Bivol is forced to vacate however, then it ups the stakes considerably for what might be Smith in a rematch with Joshua Buatsi.
The pair have been linked to a second bout for what feels like months, and a world title on the line would certainly juice things up.
Smith would be determined not to let his chance to reign slip through his fingers. But Buatsi would certainly feel he has a chance too.Â
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