Bob Arum has taken a more diplomatic approach to one of the most intriguing, but politically snakebitten, fights in boxing.

Earlier this year, Arum made some prickly comments in regards to making a light heavyweight undisputed championship between his charge, WBO, WBC, IBF champion Artur Beterbiev and WBA titlist and fellow Russian Dmitry Bivol, who is promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom.

Interest in that fight has been at an all-time high since Beterbiev added the IBF title to his wares by stopping Joe Smith Jr. in June at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, but making it is problematic since both fighters are aligned with rival promotional entities that, crucially, have their own network deals. Top Rank has an exclusive deal to showcase their fighters on ESPN, and Matchroom has a similar one with DAZN. After the Smith fight, Arum told BoxingScene.com that he had no intention of letting Beterbiev fight Bivol on DAZN, citing the platform’s middling viewership.

“One thing with Beterbiev is that now that he is known to the public and so many people have seen him, we ain’t doing a fight on ‘Dead-Zone’ (DAZN) which nobody watches,” Arum cracked.

In a recent interview, however, Arum seemed to back off from his initial stance. Arum did not offer specifics on how a compromise could be made that could satisfy both sides, but he stated unequivocally that he would not allow network issues to be an impediment. In any case, a Beterbiev-Bivol fight, if it can be made, would not happen until the tail end of 2023, Arum said, because he suspects Bivol will try to fight Canelo Alvarez in a rematch in the fall; Bivol defeated the Mexican superstar via unanimous decision this past May.

“If a Bivol fight is to be made, it won’t be until the end of next year because I think Bivol is looking for a rematch with Canelo [Alvarez], which would be a lot more lucrative for him,” Arum told iD Boxing.

“As you said, this is way down the road. We’ll figure that out. No reason it can’t be figured out. I’m not going to let any network problems stop a fight that should be made. But that is for tomorrow.”

In the meantime, Beterbiev will defend his 175-pound titles against WBO mandatory challenger Anthony Yarde at OVO Arena Wembley in London on Jan. 28. Recently, the WBC confirmed that Liverpool’s Callum Smith, a former titlist at 168, is the mandatory for Beterbiev, although the sanctioning body refrained from officially ordering a fight between the two.

As for Arum, the 91-year-old likes the sound of a Beterbiev-Smith fight should Beterbiev, as he is expected to, end up getting past Yarde on Jan. 28.

“Well, that’s good, Callum Smith is a good fighter,” Arum said. “If we get by this fight, [against] Yarde, why not take Callum Smith?

“Today, I don’t have that problem with Callum Smith,” Arum added. “I won’t have that problem, so I’m content with that.”