It will be back-to-back home fights for Dmitry Bivol, who’s set to defend his unified WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight crown against the WBO interim champion Callum Smith at the UMMC Arena in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on Dec. 12.
Bivol and Smith agreed to the fight in late August, avoiding a purse bid hearing. There has been a substantial delay in announcing it though, as lead promoter RCC Boxing worked through the details and applied to the WBO to grant sanctioning of the bout.
The WBO has not sanctioned title fights in Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. When Bivol (25-1, 12 KOs) fought Michael Eifert in May, the WBO chose not to have its belt on the line. The sanctioning body has, however, altered its rules now and is approving the Bivol-Smith bout.
Bivol and Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) won their belts on the same fight card in February 2025, when Bivol became undisputed champion by defeating Artur Beterbiev in their rematch, and earlier that night, Smith upset Joshua Buatsi to take the WBO interim title.
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Although 20 months have passed since that memorable card, the pair have combined for just one fight: Bivol’s unanimous decision win over Eifert.
Smith, a former super middleweight champion, was supposed to defend his belt against David Morrell in April but was forced out with injury. Morrell decided to stay busy against Zak Chelli instead, but ended up on the wrong side of the biggest upset of 2026, when Chelli TKO’d him in Round 10.