‘We can be ready to fight’: Dmitry Bivol’s manager confirms return timeline after back surgery

Lineal and unified light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol is edging closer to a return after undergoing back surgery in August. Since his historic win over Artur Beterbiev to become the undisputed champion, Bivol vacated his WBC title to pursue a trilogy fight with Beterbiev. 

The trilogy fight then failed to materialize, with the Russian deciding to undergo back surgery. Dan Rafael is now reporting via his Fight Freaks Unite Substack that Bivol is aiming to return to training in February, as per his manager Vadim Kornilov.

Dmitry Bivol’s manager gives the latest on return after surgery

Bivol’s manager Kornilov, told Fight Freaks Unite: “Dmitry is planning to start training in February.”

“Hopefully, he feels good and we can return starting with the IBF mandatory in due time.

“It’s hard to say right now whether (his back) is 100 percent. He has just started moving around and hitting the heavy bag lightly in the recent week or so,” added Kornilov.

It was a memorable, albeit frustrating 2025 for Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs). He only boxed once, but it was the biggest win of his career, with the deserved majority decision win against Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs). It crowned Bivol as the undisputed champion at light heavyweight, a reign that lasted a matter of weeks, before the Russian decided to vacate his WBC title, which saw David Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs) elevated to the status of full champion.

The future for Dmitry Bivol

Looking at the options, the most likely looks to be an IBF defence against the long overdue mandatory Michael Eifert (13-1, 5 KOs), as confirmed by Kornilov. Dmitry Bivol received a medical exemption to delay his IBF mandatory. A potential blockbuster fight with Benavidez looks unlikely, with The Monster looking at facing Gilberto Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) at cruiserweight.

Looking at a timeline for Bivol’s return, his manager said: “We are very time sensitive with the IBF,” Kornilov said. “I am hoping that if all goes by plan, we can be ready to fight by April.”

Eifert has been inactive since August 2024 as he awaits his shot at the IBF crown. He became the mandatory in March 2023 and agreed to step aside to allow the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch, to ensure it was for all the belts.

It will be expected that Dmitry Bivol defeats Eifert and moves onto a bigger fight towards the end of 2026, and it appears Team Bivol are open to suggestions and are not ruling out a trilogy clash with Beterbiev:

“We will consider the biggest opportunity, of course,” Kornilov said to Fight Freaks Unite. “If (Alalshikh) still has interest in the third fight we would definitely embrace the opportunity if it makes sense for everybody.”