Artur Beterbiev vs Callum Johnson being negotiated

A fight between IBF light heavyweight titleholder Artur Beterbiev and Callum Johnson is being worked on, according to Sky Sports, and would-be challenger Johnson says he has no fear of the matchup, and that he’s jumping at the chance.

“These opportunities don’t come around every day and, when my promoter Eddie Hearn showed me the letter from the IBF offering the fight, I jumped at it. I’m in the game to be in the biggest and best fights possible. I’ve dreamt of winning a world title since I was a kid so I’m not going to turn down this chance because he is this apparent beast. I believe I am a beast as well and can beat him.”

Johnson (17-0, 12 KO) beat Frank Buglioni to unite the British and Commonwealth titles on March 24, stopping Buglioni in just 91 seconds in what was the biggest fight of the 32-year-old Johnson’s career to date.

Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KO) would definitely be another step up, though. The 33-year-old Russian hasn’t been as active as anyone would like, fighting just once since 2016, when he beat Enrico Koelling for the vacant IBF belt on November 11 of last year, dominating the fight and scoring a 12th round knockout victory.