By Luke Furman
WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (16-0, 11 KOs) is ready for a mandatory title defense against unbeaten Marcus Browne, said Russian boxer's manager Vadim Kornilov.
On March 9th, Bivol retained the world title in a defense with Joe Smith. The WBA's interim champion Browne is undefeated in 23 fights. Browne had the biggest win of his career last time out, when he won a dominant decision over Badou Jack. He is slated to face Jean Pascal next.
"It has been more than 12 months since the mandatory defense we made in the fight with Sullivan Barrera. The WBA has the right to assign us the next mandatory defense. We are ready for the fight with Marcus Browne. And it’s not clear to us if he is not ready to enter the ring against Bivol. Why then was it necessary to request that an interim title get sanctioned for the fight with Badou Jack. If you are not ready to fight with a full-fledged champion then I don't know what to say,” Kornilov said Vasiliy Konov.
As far as Russian heavyweight Sergey Kuzmin, who was victorious in the March scrap with Joey Dawejko. He broke his finger in the win. He underwent surgery for the injury and now waits to get back in the mix.
“Kuzmin had an operation. Now it will take time to recover,” Kornilov noted
As far as Bivol, he expects to have his next fight late summer.
At the moment Bivol is contracted to a multi-fight deal with streaming service DAZN, while Browne competes under the Premier Boxing Champions banner. PBC have televised deals with Fox Sports and Showtime.
“The fight with Brown is currently not confirmed. We plan that the next fight will take place no earlier than the end of August,” said Bivol to TASS.
2023-10-23 00:55:10
