Dmitry Bivol undergoes back surgery, sidelining unified light heavyweight champion until 2026

Dmitry Bivol’s return to the ring will have to wait until 2026. The unified light heavyweight champion announced on social media that he underwent successful back surgery and will not return to the ring this year.

“Following my doctor’s advice, I had to undergo surgery for a past back injury which I’ve been dealing with for over 10 years, but it kept getting worse with each training camp,” Bivol said. “Everything went well, and I’m feeling much better already. A 6-8 week recovery period lies ahead, after which I plan to start training again. Thank you all for your support — I look forward to new challenges in the next year.”

Prior to surgery, Bivol’s team had been in negotiations with Michael Eifert (13-1, 5 KOs), the IBF’s mandatory challenger who has waited on the sidelines while Bivol faced Artur Beterbiev in a pair of highly anticipated fights to crown an undisputed champion at 175 pounds. Beterbiev won the first meeting, while Bivol took a decision to win the four belts in the rematch.

Bivol relinquished the WBC title to pursue a trilogy bout rather than facing WBC interim champion David Benavidez. Benavidez was then elevated to full champion.

Meanwhile, Beterbiev accepted a fight with Deon Nicholson on Nov. 22, posting on Instagram that Bivol’s team had taken too long to get the trilogy fight done.

“Our next fight was supposed to take place in Russia,” the post read. “You know what we’re talking about now. The third fight with [Bivol].

“We were offered great conditions, which were almost impossible to refuse. For my part, I did everything to make the third fight happen, but my opponent chose the path of retreat again. I’ve waited long enough and I don’t intend to wait any longer. Sitting around doing nothing while someone else is resting is too much.”

The trilogy fight will have to wait even longer now, as will Bivol’s overdue mandatory IBF title defense.

Bivol has filed for a medical exemption with the IBF, leaving the sanctioning body to determine if Bivol can remain champion and if they will crown an interim champion while Bivol recovers.