DETROIT – Atif Oberlton could still be considered a prospect, but his co-promoter says the 29-year-old light heavyweight would be able to take on the two most recent undisputed champions in his division.
“I believe he’s ready for Bivol; he’s ready for Beterbiev; he’s ready for all the top guys in the world,” said Dmitriy Salita, whose Salita Promotions joined with Wynn Promotions to sign Oberlton last month, partnering with the fighter’s longtime promoter, Kings Promotions.
Salita is talking, of course, about Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, who fought each other twice in October 2024 and February 2025. Beterbiev won the first meeting to become the undisputed king at 175lbs. Bivol triumphed in the rematch but has since vacated one world title. While no longer undisputed, he remains the Ring Magazine and lineal champ.
Oberlton, meanwhile, has not yet fought a ranked contender. In 2025, he fought three times and won all by knockout, defeating the 6-0 Joaquin Berroa Lugo in five rounds; the 10-1 Chown Sims in six rounds; and the 19-17-2 Vaughn Alexander in one round.
For his first fight with Salita, Oberlton was prominently spotlighted in the co-feature against the 13-1 Joseph George, just before the main event rematch between Claressa Shields and Franchon Crews-Dezurn.
Oberlton vs. George ended abruptly and frighteningly after the first round. Moments after George sat down on his stool, he fell forward to the canvas, unconscious. Medics responded and he soon regained consciousness. During the post-fight press conference, Salita said George was at a local hospital in stable condition.
“When my opponent was hurt, I said a prayer for him,” Oberlton said at the post-fight press conference. “I was just hoping he was OK, because I’ve never seen nothing like that before in my life in the sport of boxing. It was kind of crazy, and I don’t think he was faking anything. Especially once I seen him start to shake a little bit, I was really concerned for him.
“We all want to go in there, we want to do what we want to do and impose our will on our opponents, but we always want to leave the same way you came in. You want to go back to your family in one piece. [...] I went over there and told him I love him. ‘If you want to run it back, whatever you want to do, it don’t matter, bro, but just I’m glad that you safe,’ and I gave him a hug.”
Oberlton was awarded a TKO win. He is now 15-0 (13 KOs) and took little to no damage in the three minutes of limited action against George.
“Training camps take a lot out of a fighter. Sometimes you need some rest,” Salita said, then spoke directly to Oberlton: “But I’d like for you to come, because this was not really a fight, I’d like to bring you back as soon as possible. The hunger and the drive is there, and I see that you’re just a couple of steps away from being a superstar.”
People in boxing will often speak hyperbolically and prematurely. A few days before this bout, BoxingScene spoke with Oberlton, Salita and trainer Tom Yankello about the high hopes for him – but also about what they still felt he should work on.
“He’s so versatile. He’s one of the most diverse boxers you’re ever going to see, so he has the ability to really make adjustments. It doesn't matter the style of fighter; he can adjust to whatever style there is,” Yankello said at the time. “He’s not too far away from being the best light heavyweight in the world. I really believe that. After this fight, I could see him fighting one or two more fights that just considerably jump up, and then fighting for the title.”
So with Salita saying he thinks Oberlton is ready now for Bivol and Beterbiev – and not after one or two more fights – this reporter returned to Yankello to see whether he concurred.
“If we were offered the fight and the fight was made, I believe he could win right now,” Yankello said. “In a perfect world, I’d like to see him get another fight, especially because of what happened tonight. I would like to see him get some more work. That's perfect world, but I wouldn’t be one to turn either one of those fights down, if the powers that be would make the fight and would push for it to happen.”
But Yankello also recognizes that it’s unlikely for a fight with Bivol or Beterbiev to be offered to Oberlton right now.
“There’s a lot of risk, little reward right now because his market value has to build,” Yankello said. “Tonight was the first step in that direction for him to be able to build this following. He got to be able to fight in front of 18,000 people. But you know, [Bivol and Beterbiev are] making big money, and the money has to be generated. It's just business. Boxing is such a business. So his market value has to increase for them to say, ‘OK, we're going to take that risk to fight this guy because there's a lot of money involved.’”
Given how skilled and accomplished Bivol and Beterbiev are, why does Yankello think Oberlton could beat them? Yankello des
“Styles make fights, and I think that Bivol would try to outbox him. I don't think anybody can outbox [Oberlton],” Yankello said. “Beterbiev would try to put the pressure on and that’s something that we have been consistently working on in the gym. [David] Benavidez is another guy that puts pressure. Those are the kind of guys that I have been really working on with him, so he’s going to be ready for those guys.
“Bivol to me is going to basically play Atif’s game. Atif’s the puncher, too. Bivol can punch some, but he’s going to try to outbox him. I just don’t think he can outbox him. As long as [Oberlton] learns in the next camp even better how to set the pace, I think he can get a victory over Benavidez and Beterbiev if he had to, if that was the next fight.
“I don’t think people have gotten the opportunity to see how great he can box. And he’s very hard to hit. He’s very, very hard to hit. So you’re looking at a 6-foot-3 Pernell Whitaker with a punch.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
