Dmitry Bivol has already been told by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh that he wants to make a rematch with Artur Beterbiev next. Bivol says Turki told him that he thought he won the fight against IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) last Saturday night in their undisputed championship in Riyadh.
Despite winning, Beterbiev isn’t receiving much praise from fans and promoters. Even Turki is now saying that he thought he lost. Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was furious about Beterbiev’s win, calling it a “Robbery” and saying the judge who scored it 116-112 for him should never work another fight. Hearn says he had Bivol winning 8-4.
Why Beterbiev Should Move On
If you’re Beterbiev, he should move on and fight someone else because he won’t get much love fighting Bivol again. The promotion will be a wreck, with Beterbiev being reminded daily that he was gifted a decision, and it might be difficult for him to get the nod with the judges the second time around, no matter what he does. Beterbiev might be in a position where he’ll need a knockout.
On the other hand. If Beterbiev moves on, he can defend his undisputed championship against one of these fighters and receive a lot of attention:
– Canelo Alvarez
– David Benavidez
– David Morrell
– Joshua Buatsi
“He told me, ‘In my opinion, you won, and I want to make a rematch for you.’ Now, it depends on Beterbiev,” said Dmitry Bivol to Fight Hub TV about a conversation he had with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh.
That’s bad that Bivol has been told that he won by Turki. How does that make Beterbiev feel that Turki is telling Bivol he won? It makes Beterbiev seem illegitimate, and if that’s how he’s looked at, why would he want to waste time by fighting Bivol again?
“With the aura about Beterbiev, a lot of people are scared, but I was excited. You’re going against this monster, and I could deal with him,” said Bivol.
“The Callum Smith performance, I thought was great,” said trainer Stephen Edwards to MillCity Boxing about Beterbiev, who he thought wasn’t A+ for the Bivol fight. “If the guy who fought Anthony Yarde showed up, I thought Bivol had a real good chance. That’s pretty much the guy who showed up.”
Beterbiev was not at his best coming off knee surgery and a long layoff. The knee surgery is what messed him up because he didn’t show the same relentless pressure as he normally does.
“Bivol’s toughness surprised me. I’ve watched him stand up to three huge punchers and not break mentally,” said Edwards. “Bivol is showing composure. He’s keeping his hands up. I’m not saying he’s impervious to pain and can’t be hurt, but he’s a finished fighter.
“When you throw a punch at him, he knows how to break the steam of the punch enough so it’s not hitting you with the gunshot. He really knows what he’s doing. Both of those guys displayed real defense. Beterbiev can box, but he’s an animal. He’s a freak. We just look at his power, but you can’t be that good as an amateur and not be able to box,” said Edwards.
Beterbiev showed excellent boxing skills against Bivol, making him miss a lot and picking the right spots to nail him with hard punches. Bivol did hit him with a lot of jabs, but only because he was throwing so many to keep him off. That was Bivol’s main weapon.
