Shawn Porter feels that Artur Beterbiev has too much wear & tear on him from his battles to defeat the less depleted Dmitry Bivol this Saturday in their undisputed light heavyweight championship on October 12th in Riyadh.
The former welterweight champion Porter says the 33-year-old Bivol’s youth (23-0, 12 KOs) is also a factor in his favor against the 39-year-old Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) in their 12-round main event at the Kingdom Arena.
WBA 175-lb champion Bivol made it a habit to avoid grueling fights as much as possible, which is why he has fewer knockouts than Beterbiev. The downside of that safety-first approach to his career is that Bivol is less popular than IBF, WBC, and WBO champ Beterbiev and not talked about as much.
“I can’t pick him at the moment, but if Bivol stands there and he lands, it’s goodnight, Vienna,” said trainer Joe Gallagher to Boxing News, picking Dmitry Bivol over Artur Beterbiev.
“I’m picking Beterbiev, but only because I was in Vegas and spoke to someone who sparred with him. He said, ‘Oh man, that dude. Sparring four rounds with him is like fighting 20 rounds. He’s like a monster,’” said Regis Prograis. “He sparred him and Bivol. He was like, ‘Beterbiev is a killer, an absolute monster.’ So, I would lean towards Beterbiev.”
The power that Beterbiev has makes him a nightmare for anyone to spar with unless he takes it easy on them. He’s not the type that goes light in his sparring sessions because he’s not getting anything from them in that case.
“I can’t see past Beterbiev, but Bivol’s quality is really good. He’s technically really good,” said Paul Smith. “I just think seeing Beterbiev up close a couple of times. I think I side with Beterbiev. I think he’ll eventually get to him, but it’s not a foregone conclusion by any stretch.”
“I think one thing in Bivol’s favor is Beterbiev has had some injuries and just had a big injury that he’s coming off of. That could play in Bivol’s favor a little bit,” said Otto Wallin.
“Bivol wins that fight. I think he’s got youth on his side,” said Shawn Porter. “Beterbiev has been a Mack truck running into smaller trucks and other big trucks. Those kinds of collisions will catch up to you at some point.
The only fights in which Beterbiev was punished were between Marcus Browne and Anthony Yarde. He took some shots in both fights, especially against the heavy-handed Browne, but he still wore them down to get the knockout.
“The mileage that Bivol has is just different than the mileage that Beterbiev has. I think Bivol wins. We’ll see. Bivol can be touched, but is Beterbiev fast enough?”
The mileage that Porter talks about might not prevent Beterbiev from winning the fight because his power is just as lethal as it would be if he had less mileage, and he’s not shown any problems with his chin. If Bivol is going to take advantage of Beterbiev’s age and ring wear, he’s going to need to brawl with him. To do that will be risky.
