When discussing the situation, Hearn acknowledged Smith’s position as the WBO mandatory challenger.
“Now he’s been ordered to fight Callum Smith. People are talking about Beterbiev 3 or Benavidez, but Callum’s got to get his shot, so we’ll see what happens,” said Hearn to Matchroom Boxing’s YouTube channel.
“We’ll speak to Dmitry, Vadim, and the team. If he does choose to fight Beterbiev again or fight Benavidez, then it’ll be Callum Smith against Buatsi to run it back for the world title, which would be a massive fight.”
Hearn stopped short of presenting Smith as Bivol’s clear next opponent. Instead, he immediately discussed alternative scenarios and openly outlined a fallback plan involving Smith and Joshua Buatsi if Bivol decides to pursue a bigger fight elsewhere.
Usually, a promoter with a mandatory challenger will bang the drum, demand the fight, and try to corner the champion. Instead, Hearn instantly shifts to, ‘Well, if he doesn’t want it, we’ll just make this massive domestic fight for a vacant belt.
It shows zero confidence that Bivol will actually take the Callum Smith fight, and honestly, why would he? Bivol just got back into the groove against Eifert and wants those massive legacy nights against Benavidez or the Beterbiev trilogy. Hearn likely knows this, so instead of fighting the current, he’s already building a bridge for when Bivol inevitably drops the WBO strap.
Matchroom wins either way. If Smith gets Bivol, great. If Bivol vacates, Hearn gets a massive, stadium-level UK blockbuster in Smith vs. Buatsi 2 without having to share the pie with outside promoters.
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