Artur Beterbiev’s next fight had bounced from continent to continent, from country to country. Finally, he has a place and a date.
He’s going home.
Beterbiev, a transplanted Canadian, will defend his light heavyweight belts against Chinese challenger Meng Fanlong in Quebec City on March 28 in his first bout since an impressive stoppage of Oleksandr Gvozydk four months ago, Top Rank announced Friday.
“I’m very much looking forward to defending my IBF and WBC titles against mandatory challenger Meng Fanlong,” said the unbeaten Beterbiev, who has a perfect record – 15 knockouts in 15 fights. “I’m training hard, improving every day, and I intend to perform at my best in front of my Canadian supporters.”
For at least a month, it wasn’t clear when or where Beterbiev, No. 10 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list, would make the first defense of the two titles he won against Gvozydk last October in Philadelphia.
It looked as if the bout would land in China because a Chinese entity had won the promotional rights. Then, however, there were worries that Beterbiev would refuse to fight there. Beterbiev, who moved to Montreal from his native Russia several years ago, is a practicing Muslim. The Chinese government has been detaining Muslims in camps, according to news reports.
The spread of coronavirus probably would have kept the fight out of China, anyway. But the Chinese promoter defaulted on its bid. The promotional rights went to Top Rank, which finally moved the ESPN-televised bout to Canada.
“I am truly honored to be fighting Artur Beterbiev for the light heavyweight championship,” said Fanlong (16-0, 10 KOs), a 2012 Olympian who hopes to become the first Chinese fighter heavier than featherweight to win a world title. “I have worked hard to earn the mandatory position, and I plan on being the first Chinese light heavyweight champion in history. This is just the beginning.”