Trainer Greg Hackett feels Artur Beterbiev is a pure “monster” and will be too much for Dmitry Bivol in their undisputed lightweight championship on October 12.
Hackett sees IBF, WBC and WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) as “badder” and too strong for WBA champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) to handle. He thinks Bivol will have his moments early, but Beterbiev will come in the second half to knock him out.
It will be interesting to see where Bivol goes from here if he loses the fight because there are all these big fights that will be off the table after a loss. He could forget about fighting Canelo Alvarez or David Benavidez. Canelo doesn’t want to chase a fighter coming off a KO loss, and Benavidez will fight Beterbiev.
“Bivol will be good early. He could still get Beterbiev to the point where he could stop him, but Beterbiev has to stop at the end of the fight, between nine and eleven,” said trainer Greg Hackett. YSM Sports Mediagiving his prediction for the fight Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol.
Usually, Bivol is excellent early, but Beterbiev will be on him immediately and will not allow him to accumulate rounds as usual. There is too much excitement for Beterbiev to let Bivol dominate the first two or three rounds. Also, it would be a bad idea for Beterbiev to fall behind early on.
“I respect Bivol. I think he’s a great fighter, but I just think Beterbiev is a meaner fighter, a tougher fighter, and I think he’s super determined. That’s what you need to be a champion in anything. Bivol is also, but Beterbiev is just a different animal,” Hackett said.
The power and stalking ability that Beterbiev has will be a nightmare for Bivol, who has not fought anyone like this before. The toughest guys Bivol fought during his career were, believe it or not, Craig Richards and Lyndon Arthur. Those fighters have given him trouble, and they are nowhere near Beterbiev’s level.
“I’ve seen them both in person, but Beterbiev looked unreal. He doesn’t even look human. I’m not trying to hype him up. He looked like a monster. I think he’s going to get to him and break him,” Hackett said.
Bivol puts himself at risk of being hit when he comes in to throw his combinations. He is predictable with his offense, and very hittable as we saw in his fight against Canelo Alvarez. He was hit a lot in that fight, but he was able to take it because of Canelo’s small size.
“I’m glad we had this fight. It’s for the king of light heavyweights. Beterbiev went through a lot. Injuries, and he was cut in the ring. Bivol beat Canelo and put in really good boxing matches against the best. Now, let’s combine those two.
“These are two guys at their best. I love it,” Hackett said.
Beterbiev, 39, is not quite at his best but the form he showed in his last fight earlier this year against Callum Smith is more than good enough to stop Bivol next week. The power that Beterbiev showed in that fight will be too much for Bivol, who is not super human in the chin department.
