Lyndon Arthur is backing his former foe Dmitry Bivol to defeat David Benavidez, should the pair ever lock horns for the undisputed light heavyweight title.
Arthur faced Bivol back in 2023 for the WBA belt, losing a unanimous decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bivol was too good for the Manchester man, winning every round on all three cards and registering a knockdown in Round 11. Since then, Bivol has gone on to prove he is the best at 175lbs, defeating Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed title in his second attempt in 2025.
Benavidez subsequently moved up to light heavyweight, claiming Bivol’s WBC belt after the champion declined a mandatory defense. Benavidez has also been victorious up at cruiserweight, winning the WBA and WBO titles last month against Gilberto Ramirez. That has caused many to believe that Benavidez could now be the top dog at 175lbs, however, Arthur disagrees.
“I think Bivol peppers him. As long as he’s the same Bivol that he was and has been, I think he peppers him,” Arthur told BoxingScene. “Bivol is too tricky. He loves boxing too much. He flows so fluently when he throws his punches. Benavidez is an animal, let me not take that away from him. I’m just a fan of Bivol.”
Arthur rates Bivol as one of the best light heavyweights of the last 20 years.
“With Bivol, it’s just a whole different package,” he said. “I’ll never truly know how good he is because I wasn’t fit. I trained for three and a half weeks. I don’t think I was able to push Bivol to a limit that I would have liked to. I think Bivol is the best light heavyweight we’ve seen since Roy Jones Jnr or Andre Ward.”
Arthur would one day like the chance to put his abilities to the test against Bivol again, this time with a full camp behind him.
“And that’s not me saying I think with a full camp I’d beat him,” Arthur explained. “That’s just me saying I would love to see where I actually stand with a full camp and what I can do with confidence and fitness.
“To this day, I don’t know if he was joking or not, but I hurt him with a body shot and my heart said, ‘Jump on him.’ My brain said, ‘Lyndon, you’re not fit. Don’t be so stupid. Don’t even try. [You’ll] get yourself knocked out by the eighth or ninth round.’”
Before Arthur, 25-3 (16 KOs), can look for a rematch with Bivol, he must first get past Lewis Edmondson at St Mary’s in Southampton tonight on the undercard of Ryan Garner’s vacant WBC interim super featherweight title fight against Michael Magnesi. Edmondson will be fighting in front of his home crowd, but Arthur is experienced and familiar fighting away from home.