Artur Beterbiev has suffered a ruptured meniscus, leading to the postponement of his undisputed light heavyweight championship bout against Dmitry Bivol, originally scheduled for June 1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The announcement was made by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, who also mentioned that efforts are underway to find a replacement opponent for Bivol for the same date.
Beterbiev will undergo knee surgery and is expected to be out of action until at least September. There remains hope that the Beterbiev-Bivol fight could be rescheduled later this year.
Despite the setback for the main event, the undercard for June 1 will proceed as planned. It features a lineup of ten rounds, including five fighters from Matchroom Boxing against five from Queensberry Promotions. Highlighting the undercard is a crucial heavyweight clash between former champion Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, with both fighters coming off losses to Joseph Parker. Wilder is particularly under pressure to perform as he aims to secure a fight on August 3 with Jared Anderson in Los Angeles.
Additionally, Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois are set to contest the vacant IBF heavyweight title on August 13, while Ray Ford will defend his WBA featherweight title against Nick Ball. Other bouts include Ammo Williams vs. Hamzah Sheeraz and Willy Hutchinson vs. Craig Richards.
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