‘Bivol-Benavidez is the fight to make’ says Eddie Hearn
May 17, 2026 • 4:00 PM ET
Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy PromotionsTalks have already taken place between Matchroom and PBC about a possible fight between David Benavidez and Dmitry Bivol.
Bivol, 24-1 (12 KOs), the world’s leading light-heavyweight, boxes Michael Eifert in Russia later this month in a mandatory defense of his IBF title while Benavidez stepped up to crush unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramirez in Las Vegas on May 2 as he improved to 32-0 (26 KOs).
Bivol faces Eifert at the UMMC Arena in Ekaterinburg.
Hearn is working on the Russian show with RCC, World of Boxing and DAZN, but he is keen to make Bivol-Benavidez before the end of the year.
“We’ve been speaking to Luis DeCubas and PBC. We like Bivol-Benavidez,” Hearn said.
“I think it’s a big, big fight. And obviously he’s got his fight May 30th. And Dimtry’s going to want to be in big fights. He’s not going to want to fight guys like Eifert, who’s a mandatory. “But he wants to be in the big fights and I think Bivol-Benavidez is the fight to make.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
