Broadcaster Tim Bradley feels that Dmitry Bivol will not be able to run from Artur Beterbiev all night without tiring eventually and getting caught on Saturday night. He advises making it ugly by holding Beterbiev to shut down his offense.
(Credit: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry Promotions)
Bradley says it’s important that Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) “tie up” Beterbiev to neutralize his offense. He wants Bivol to move, punch, and grab Beterbiev in a clinch whenever he gets close. In other words, Bradley recommends that Bivol use the punch-and-grab technique many finesse-level fighters use.
That won’t make fans happy that they are tuning in to watch the Beterbiev-Bivol fight in high numbers because they want to be entertained and not see one fighter making it a boring fight because he’s afraid of getting knocked out.
Bivol is six years younger than the 39-year-old IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs), and he’s not coming off knee surgery. Why would Bivol need to make the fight ugly by tying up Beterbiev all night?
What will His Excellency Turki Alalshikh think of Bivol if he sees him clinching and running rather than fighting Beterbiev? If you’re Bivol, it’s not a good idea to follow Bradley’s advice to neutralize Beterbiev’s offense. Those types of fighters are a dime a dozen, and no one wants to watch them, especially on PPV.
Bradley: Don’t Allow Beterbiev to Work
“Bivol can’t move and run from Beterbiev all night because he’s going to be on you consistently,” said Tim Bradley to the Sean Zittel channel about Dmitry Bivol not being able to stay on the move for 12 rounds without getting caught by Artur Beterbiev.
Ideally, Bivol shouldn’t be moving all night anyway because if he’s as good as the many fans and oddsmakers think he is, he should be able to out-punch Beterbiev. He’s younger, faster, and is the best combination puncher than Beterbiev. That should be enough.
“I think what Bivol will end up having to do is he’s going to tie him up,” said Bradley. “The tie-up is part of boxing. So, if you tie the man up and don’t allow him to work, you stop his forward momentum. Bivol knows how to do that. Another thing Bivol knows how to do is he actually knows how to smother.”
Fans are expecting a lot more from the Beterbiev-Bivol fight than a boring affair where one guy resorts to clinching to save his hide.
If Bivol wants to be popular in the U.S. and worldwide, he should ignore what Bradley is saying because he sounds like he’s trying to morph him into Frankenstein’s monster version of Shakur Stevenson. It’s no skin off of Bradley’s teeth if Bivol is booed out of the arena on Saturday night due to excessive clinching.
“I think Bivol’s ring IQ, straight punches to the target, and his distance control,” said Bradley. “I think that’s going to be the difference-maker in this fight. The ropes are a concern for me. Bivol, sometimes, he languishes against the ropes. He did that against Canelo. He was easily backed up against Canelo against the ropes.”
Bivol lays on the ropes when he gets tired, and that’s a product of all the moving he does. It’s hard for light heavyweights to use the kind of movement that Bivol utilizes without needing to rest against the ropes.
One remedy for that is to stop moving as much, but Bivol can’t do that because his chin is fragile, and he can’t punch. If Bivol didn’t move as much as he does, he’d get knocked out because he doesn’t have a good set of whiskers and never will. The only thing Bivol can do is make sure he doesn’t rest too long against the ropes on Saturday night because Beterbiev will light him up like a Christmas tree if he does.
“At the end of the first round, he was along those ropes. Canelo was able to land some lethal punches,” said Bradley. “He can’t afford to do that against a lethal puncher like Beterbiev. Everyone says Bivol can’t punch. Stop it. When you have timing and accuracy like Bivol has, he can put you on your behind.”
It sounds like Bradley hasn’t done his research because Bivol has only knocked out one of his last ten opponents, Malik Zinad. Bivol has no power, and if he did, he’d have many more knockouts on his resume than 12.
“Even Beterbiev. He can put him on his behind because Beterbiev comes forward and his former momentum as he lunges; if he gets hit hard by some shots from Bivol, he can get hurt. Bivol is better technically because he has his feet along with his hands,” said Bradley.
“I don’t know. Eddie is talking, but he’s a little bit heavier than me. He’s in another category. He needs to make weight and talk,” said Beterbiev about Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, who was trying to anger him during today’s final press conference.
