Dmitry Bivol says he studied former five-division world champion Sugar Ray Leonard to use his fighting style as a model for his uncontested lightweight bout against Artur Beterbiev on Saturday night in Riyadh.
Where Bivol’s strategy of morphing into Leonard 2.0 failed was in forgetting to engage with Beterbiev during championship rounds 9 through 12. The Sugar Ray-esque style that Bivol copied did not allow him to throw enough to win any of the ‘last four or even. the last six rounds. This style ruined Bivol’s chances of winning.
Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) believed that 1976 Olympic gold medalist Sugar Ray’s approach to fighting, using movement and fast combinations, neutralized the punching power of knockout artist Beterbiev. To Bivol’s credit, he came close to succeeding. He lost a close 12-round majority decision to IBF, WBC and WBO 175-lb champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs)
Throughout the fight, Bivol moved, threw jabs and quick combinations, and didn’t allow Beterbiev to have a stationary target for him to unload his non-stop power shots. Beterbiev was forced to follow Bivol around, and it was difficult for him to land anything in the first six rounds.
Bivol used Leonard’s fighting style
“My favorite fighter is Sugar Ray Leonard. My plan moved a lot because I watched a lot of Ray Leonard’s fights before this fight, repeatedly,” said Dmitry Bivol to Fight Hub TV about how Artur Beterbiev prepared for the fight by watching Sugar Ray Leonard’s fights.
“Hagler vs. Leonard, Duran vs. Leonard 2nd fight. I was impressed with how Leonard moved all 12 rounds without stopping. Sometimes if he stops..he does a combination and then moves again. He was not in feet (real estate),” said Bivol.
Leonard’s approach would have worked for Bivol if he had the same judges that Sugar Ray had for the Marvin Hagler fight because those guys ignored the pressure that was being applied and the much harder shots that were being landed. Hagler was stolen in the eyes of many fans.
Conor Benn saw Beterbiev as the winner
“I’m watching and going,” Beterbiev is in control of the fight. Nothing that Bivol was putting back was effective. He (Beterbiev) was pressing. He is not the fastest of the starters, but he breaks his man,” said Conor Benn to iFL TVdiscussing why he saw Beterbiev as the winner against Bivol.
The non-stop pressure from Beterbiev wore down Bivol, and his moves drained his batteries. If Bivol had fought like he did against Canelo Alvarez, he would have had a better chance of defeating Beterbiev.
Against Canelo, Bivol strictly used the in-and-out style. He wasn’t moving around the ring in endless circles, wasting energy. Bivol was still fresh in the championship rounds and finished strong. In the match of Beterbiev, Bivol used his energy with his movement and had nothing in the tank after six rounds. That’s why Beterbiev took over.
“I think he did enough and definitely won the second half. Bivol had a few good moments, but you could definitely see the wear and tear,” Benn said. “He slowed down. I think Beterbiev won by one round. I think Beterbiev is a killer. I think he’s patient. I think he’s disciplined.
“The way he managed to stay the course. He may be losing rounds, but he stayed the course, and he was disciplined to do what he had to do. Some of his fights started like that. He started slowly and bring your man.
“I think Bivol did a lot earlier, but you can see that he is slowing down. I think there were three rounds where he just launched. His work seemed more flashy. His work seemed more flamboyant and more attractive when he launched. But I don’t think not that he threw enough at the attacker. I don’t think Bivol did enough to get the belts off,” Benn said.
Bivol’s highly mobile Sugar Ray Leonard style came back to haunt him in the championship rounds against Beterbiev, as he ran out of gas, and what little power was gone due to his fatigue. All the movement that Bivol made emptied its gas tank.
