Three-time unified lightweight champion Artur Beterbiev will go for WBA champion Dmitry Bivol’s belt on Saturday night in their undisputed championship contest at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. The fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV, with the undercard.
This fight should be a 50-50, but fans should be ready to see a complete rout with Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) who is too powerful and robust for the finesse fighter Bivol (23-0,). 12 KO).
Fans hope to see a war in the ring on Saturday, but they did not see Bivol’s fight. It’s not that kind of fight. He’s more of a boxer, and doesn’t like to get into fights because of his injury history.
“This is the best matchup. It takes the most stylish fighter in the world in my mind. It’s Dmitry Bivol against the most destructive, Artur Beterbiev,” said the commentator Mark Kriegel to Top Rank Boxing.
I don’t think this is the best matchup in the lightweight division, but it is one of the best. There are more fun guys in the 175lb division that would give Artur more of a fan-friendly fight.
– David Benavidez
– Anthony Yarde: *rediscovered
– David Morrell
– Joshua Buatsi
– Wiley Hutchinson
“Artur Beterbiev brings three belts to the table, but Dmitry Bivol brings that belt. It’s so valuable because he beat Canelo Alvarez (in 2022). That means you’re an elite competitor,” said commentator Bernard Osuna. “This is such a compelling fight. You can see it going either way. This guy is a destructive force and once he gets going, the freight train runs over you,” Osuna said of Beterbiev.
I don’t see this as a fight that can go either way, but I’ve seen Beterbierv and Bivol their entire careers. This is a catch and mouse type of fight, which could get boring if Dmitry chooses to move all night like he did against Lyndon Arthur and Canelo Alvarez.
“This is a fan-friendly fight. I think this is a great fight for boxing because all the belts are on the line, but only one man can win. That man will have to be at his best ever. his entire career,” analyst Tim Bradley said. “Is this one of the best fights to be made in boxing? Absolutely, yes, because we don’t know who’s going to win the fight.
“It’s a unification fight. It’s a very big motivation for me,” said Artur Beterbiev. “Of course, I’m excited. It’s my goal to be a unified world champion. I try to be ready for every fight, and I want to try something.”
Beterbiev may have beaten better fighters than Bivol during his professional career, and he was stolen from the 2012 London Olympics after dominating Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk. Artur’s wins over Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Anthony Yarde and Callum Smith were against fighters who are arguably better pro talent than Bivol. They just weren’t matched like he was.
“What is the minimum? The maximum is to collect all the belts. Okay, this is my maximum,” said Bivol. “This is boxing, and you have to be ready for whole situations.”
It doesn’t get any better than this for Bivol because what comes next won’t be that great. Two-time Olympian Beterbiev has been a force of nature since turning pro, and it would say a lot about Bivol if he can become the guy to hand him his first career defeat. On the other hand, it is not the end of the world for Bivol if he loses. He is young enough at 33 to come back and still capture more belts.
Beterbiev will likely vacate all four titles and move up to cruiserweight if victorious on Saturday, leaving the fragmented belts up for grabs. As long as a knockout loss to Beterbiev doesn’t ruin Bivol’s punch resistance, he should be able to come back and capture one of the belts after he leaves the division.
