Artur Beterbiev says that his team has made some changes in his training and hopes to be at least 10% improved for his rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22 in Riyadh.
Undisputed lightweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) didn’t reveal what areas he’s improved on, but reckons it’s enough to make the fight more exciting.
10% better
The look on Beterbiev’s face during interviews this week suggests he will attack Bivol relentlessly and force him to fight or flee. The last time, Bivol escaped, which saved him from being shot down, but also cost him the fight. He was too focused on survival.
I suspect that will be his main target this time once he starts to feel the heat from Beterbiev. Bivol is a good fighter when he is not dealing with something that is thrown at him. But when his opponents shoot, he peels or retreats. He always fought like that.
“We changed some things in training. I hope to be better in this fight than I was in the first fight,” said Artur Beterbiev to talkSport Boxing about his rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22. “Before I was undisputed, I wanted to get a fourth belt. Now, I want to keep it.
“If they get any offers for this thing, I’ll look at them. So far, I’ve only received one offer for a rematch and I’ve accepted it,” Beterbiev said when asked if he was open to moving up to cruiserweight after fighting.
“I can take any fight if I have different offers. I will check with my team and take it,” said Beterbiev when asked if he would be interested in fighting Canelo Alvarez or Jai Opetaia if he beats Bivol.
“28,” Beterbiev said when asked how old he is.
Bivol’s tactics
He’s too old at 34 to change now, and the only thing he can do differently in the rematch is hold on longer. That’s what many fighters say he should have done last time. That’s what we’ll likely see more of from Bivol to neutralize Beterbiev’s offense.
Last time, Beterbiev started slowly, letting Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) win the first quarter of the fight with his jab and quick left-right combination.
Beterbiev started to look like his usual self at the midpoint of the fight. Bivol had become confident and did not show respect for Artur as he had done in his recent fights against Malik Zinad, Lyndon Arthur and Gilberto Ramirez.
Clearly, Bivol wronged Beterbiev and paid the price because he took the fight from the sixth round and never looked back. The results were 115-113, 116-112 for Beterbiev, and 114-114.
Interestingly, many fans and fighters are pulling for Bivol to win the fight. He believed that he had done enough to win the first fight, although he admitted that he did not seem to win a round from the sixth. They still think he won. It didn’t look like Bivol won.
For the victory of Bivol, he will need to fight even more aggressively, because Beterbiev will put more pressure on him this time. The judges favored Artur’s attacking style to Bivol’s retreat.
“If I have a chance for 10%, I will be much better,” said Beterbiev to Queensberry Promotions about how much improvement would make him happy for his rematch with Bivol. “I can’t tell you. You’ll tell Bivol. I know you’re talking about me at Bivol,” Beterbiev said when asked in which areas he wants to improve.
“I hope and believe that it will be a more interesting fight than the first one, because now we know each other,” said Beterbiev about the rematch with Bivol.
