Jermall Charlo approaches Bivol with offer of 168 lb prizefight

Jermall Charlo lays the groundwork for a fight against Dmitry Bivol.

WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo confronted WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol to spark up a conversation about a possible meeting between the two fighters.

Bivol, who seemed a bit taken aback by being called out by Charlo, would then entertain the idea before they finally suggested a mutual interest in a meeting at 168 pounds. Here’s some excerpts of how their conversation played out.

“You want to fight me?” Charlo asked Bivol. “I’ll fight you, come on.”

“Which weight,” Bivol asked.

“Sixty-eight” Charlo responded.

“Sixty-eight? It could be,” Bivol said before qualifying his willingness. “For belts. But you know my goal, to be honest, fighting for belts.”

“Undisputed, right now” Charlo replied. “You want to fight me?”

“You’re undisputed?” a puzzled Bivol asked.

“I got the WBC,” Charlo said. “You want the WBC?”

“160?” Bivol asked, clarifying what was actually being offered.

“160,” Charlo confirmed.

“No!” Bivol scoffed while looking at his own body, implying it would be an impossible weight cut for him.

“168?” Charlo would counter.

“Do you have a belt for 168?!” Bivol asked Charlo. “When you do, let’s do it.”

“No, no, no, no, no — no belt,” Charlo responded. “Just [for the] attraction. I’ll do it. Let’s do it.”

“Yeah, I can do it too,” an amendable Bivol replied. “Yeah, why not?”

The two fighters would then shake hands in an semblance of a gentleman’s agreement, but that’s still a long way away from a signed contract. We’ll see if this gains any traction from here.