Russian trainer Gennady Mashianov, who works with Dmitry Bivol, commented on his fighter's decision to refuse defending the WBC title against David Benavidez in an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net.
Sulaiman’s disgraceful tricks. It hasn't even been two months since the fight, and he insisted on an immediate title defense. As far as I know, a WBC champion is supposed to defend their title once a year. Besides, David Benavidez has been the interim champion at super middleweight for over three years, while Saul Alvarez refused to defend his main title. Sulaiman said nothing back then. Now it’s 'hurry up and get it done.'
"We have no obligations toward Artur Beterbiev, but we do have human decency. We promised him a third fight, if he wants it. That’s why we hadn’t thought or spoken about Benavidez before that fight," Mashianov said.
For context, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has mandated Bivol's team to expedite the title defense against David Benavidez. The organization’s decision turned out to be controversial as, according to the rotation system, the Russian was expected to defend against IBF contender Michael Eifert and WBO contender Callum Smith first.
