Anticipated Bivol vs. Smith Fight Set for December 12

RCC Boxing Promotions has officially announced a championship bout between WBA, IBF, WBO and “The Ring” light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol and Britain’s Callum Smith.

The fight will take place on December 12 and will headline a boxing event at UGMK Arena in Yekaterinburg. For the 35-year-old Bivol, the bout will serve as a mandatory defense of his WBO title.

The organization scheduled the fight during the summer, and by the end of August the fighters’ teams had agreed on the terms of the contract. The date was officially announced after organizational and sanctioning issues had been fully resolved.

Russian boxer Dmitry Bivol (25–1, 12 KOs) fought his previous bout on May 30 in Yekaterinburg. He defeated German boxer Michael Eifert by unanimous decision, successfully defending his WBA Super and IBF titles.

Callum Smith (31–2, 22 KOs), a 36-year-old former super middleweight world champion, defeated Joshua Buatsi in February 2025 to claim the WBO interim title and mandatory challenger status.

Smith’s two professional defeats came against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Artur Beterbiev, both of whom had also previously been defeated by Bivol.