Dmitry Bivol retained his WBA light heavyweight as he eased to a comprehensive points victory over Lyndon Arthur at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Any thoughts the Kyrgyzstan-born fighter might suffer from ring rust were blown away in the kingdom as Bivol dominated the Briton from the start, using his precise lead hand to dictate the action.
Bivol, who underwent hand surgery earlier this year, floored Arthur with a body-shot barrage in the closing moments of the penultimate round and while he fell short of a 12th knockout of his pro career, all three judges scored the fight 120-107.
The win took his record to 22-0, while also claiming Arthur's IBO title, and Bivol is now setting his sights on fighting the winner of WBC champion Artur Beterbiev's mandatory title defence against Callum Smith on January 13. “Dmitry's committed now with Saudi to make that fight,” said promoter Eddie Hearn.
Russian-born Canadian Beterbiev also holds the IBF and WBO belts and will be looking to take his record to 20-0 when he fights Britain's Smith in Quebec City. All of the 38-year-old's 19 wins so far have come via knockouts.
“It was good sparring for me,” said Bivol, ESPN's reigning Fighter of the Year, after the fight on the 'Day of Reckoning' undercard in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
“I'm glad that the end of the year I got this fight and now I see my way to my goal, to undisputed [championship] against the winner of Beterbiev-Smith. I hope this fight will happen in 2024.”
It was only the second defeat of Arthur's career having won 23 of his 24 pro bouts – with his lone defeat coming against Anthony Yarde in 2021 – but the 32-year-old Englishman was no match for Bivol.
“I felt like I did all right, but obviously not good enough,” said Arthur. “One of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He's as good as everyone thinks he is. I believe he'll beat Beterbiev.”
Another British fighter enjoyed more success on the undercard when Daniel Dubois reignited his career by stopping American Jarrell Miller with just 10 seconds to go in a thrilling heavyweight contest.
Dubois, 26, returned to winning ways after defeat at world-title level to Oleksandr Usyk in August.
“It really mattered tonight. I had to dig deep. I came through it and I showed my heart,” he told Dazn post-fight.
“I had my dad screaming in my corner and I knew I had to go out there and work. I had to prove it to myself that I was a real fighter and I could be a champion. I silenced the doubts tonight.”
