Artur Beterbiev says he expects his rematch with Dmitry Bivol to be a very different fight when they meet in a rematch on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) will defend his undisputed light heavyweight championship for the first time after capturing the final belt he needed to earn that distinction against Bivol on Oct. 12 in a majority decision 12 times.
Retaliation strategies
While Bivol says he should have moved more in the rematch than in the first fight, Beterbiev seems to be going the other way, hinting at being more aggressive early on. Artur gave a lot of the first rounds not to attack Bivol.
Once Beterbiev went on the attack, it was one-sided, with him chasing Bivol around the ring, hitting him with hard shots, and dealing with his constant grappling. It was pretty obvious that Dmitry didn’t have the fight in him when he was under attack.
Bivol (23-1, 12 KO), his promoter Eddie Hearn, and the fans still believe he deserved the win based on his technical skills, but the judges saw it differently. They scored it 115-112, 116-112 for Beterbiev, and 114-114.
“I think he’s right. We already know how each of us fights. We’ve seen each other,” Artur Beterbiev told the media, reacting to being told that Kostya Tszyu said he expects his rematch with Dmitry Bivol to be a kind of completely different fight. “I think, of course, it will be a different fight.
“Some things can be corrected and improved. Well, his (Bivol’s) punches are those of a boxer. I probably won’t move there,” Beterbiev said about a fight between him and Oleksandr Usyk. “From a sporting perspective, I would be interested in that fight because we boxed in the Olympics (2012) and in the World Championships.
“It would be interesting to try as professionals. It’s not for money, although it’s good. But my interest in this fight would be purely sporting. Much more than monetary.
Early aggression
There won’t be much difference in the rematch other than Beterbiev attacking right away and Bivol moving in circles for three minutes of each round. Dmitry will not try and fight because he was injured when he tried the last time, and he does not have the power or mind to brawl with Beterbiev. So, he will try to win a hit and run decision.
“It’s surprising to me how he changes postures,” Beterbiev said about Terence Crawford. “It’s incredible that he’s not left-handed, but he can switch both ways. He even said that he does some exercises that he saw from me,” Beterbiev said.
