Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol fight postponed after Beterbiev injures knee

The June 1 Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol bout for the 175-pound championship was postponed after Beterbiev injured his knee in training.

The fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed 175-pound championship, scheduled for June 1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was postponed after Beterbiev injured his knee in training.

The IBF, WBC and WBO titleholder ruptured his meniscus, Top Rank announced in a news release.

The promotional company plans to stage the light heavyweight showdown before the end of the year.

The 5 vs. 5 portion of the show, in which fighters from Matchroom and Queensberry Promotions will face one another, will go on as scheduled June 1 on DAZN.

These are the five fights:

  • Deontay Wilder vs. Zhelei Zhang, heavyweights
  • Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois, heavyweights
  • Raymond Ford vs. Nick Ball, featherweights (for Ford’s WBA title)
  • Austin Williams vs. Hamzah Sheeraz, middleweights
  • Craig Richards vs. Willy Hutchinson, light heavyweights

The Beterbiev-Bivol bout has been highly anticipated, as both fighters are unbeaten and on pound-for-pound lists.

Beterbiev, 39, has stopped all 20 of his opponents, including Callum Smith in seven rounds in January.

Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) is best known for defeating Canelo Alvarez in May 2022. He has since outpointed then-unbeaten Gilberto Ramirez and Lyndon Arthur by one-sided decisions.

The Arthur fight took place in in December, meaning Bivol will have been out of action for extended period of time in light of the postponement.