Roy Jones Jr. is still lining up WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol to outbox IBF/WBC/WBO champion Artur Beterbeiv in their four-belt contest on October 12 in Riyadh. Jones Jr. I believe the two knockdowns that Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) has suffered during his career suggest that he has a weak chin and will be vulnerable to Bivol’s punches.
Roy doesn’t mind that Beterbiev’s knockdowns were of the flash variety against Callum Johnson and Jeff Page Jr. I feel that Beterbiev going down in these two fights means he will be vulnerable to Bivol’s punches, even though he is not a power guy.
Some say that Jones Jr. he chose Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) because he has a bias towards him for him being a pure boxer as he was during his long career. That could be the reason. Former fighters naturally prefer guys who have a style similar to how they fight.
“I think Bivol has a better chance to get in because he’s a boxer who can also punch. Beterbiev is one of the best punchers this world will probably see for his weight class. So, he’s still dangerous, but he’s been down a few times in boxing. People say, “He was ‘off balance.’ It doesn’t matter. You were down,” said Roy Jones Jr. to Fighthypeleaning towards Dmitry Bivol beating Artur Beterbiev on October 12th.
Bivol is not a puncher. He’s a boxer, but when he’s landing knockouts, he’s landing an accumulation of blows against fighters at the fringe level. Since 2018, he has eliminated only one opponent, Malik Zinad, a background fighter who was selected for him. Before that knockout, Bivol’s last stoppage came against Sullivan Barrera in the 12th round in March 2018.
“If a fighter knows you’re down and he can possibly catch you, he can hit you in the right spot. But (Beterbiev) is so hard to deal with,” Roy said.
It’s a mistake for Jones Jr. to confuse the flash matches that Beterbiev suffered against Callum Johnson and Jeff Page Jr. with him having a weak resistance to the punch. Beterbiev rose from the bridge to knock out Page in the second round in December 2014 and stopped Johnson in the fourth round of their fight in October 2018.
“Bivol has to make sure he gets to the third, fourth or fifth round, or he has to try to get out right away. I don’t think he’s going to do that because Bivol is not that guy,” Jones Jr. said.
It would be interesting to see Bivol try to slug with Beterbiev to knock him down because that would put him at risk of getting cut. Beterbiev is the much better puncher of the two, and I’d be happy to see Bivol choose to trade with him.
Jones Jr. he may not have seen enough of Bivol and Beterbiev’s fights to accurately predict this fight. It seems that his knowledge of the two boys is sketchy, because Bivol is not a puncher and Beterbiev is not chinny as he pretends to be.
“If Bivol can use his feet and avoid power for the first three or four rounds, Bivol should win the fight. But if he gets hit, we don’t know because I’ve never seen him get hit by a guy who fights with the speed that Artur Beterbiev hits. Just because of his boxing skills,” Roy Jr. said. when he remembered to give Bivol a 60-40 chance to defeat Beterbiev.
Some say that Jones Jr. he chose Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) because he has a bias towards him for him being a pure boxer as he was during his long career. That could be the reason. Former fighters naturally prefer guys who have a style similar to how they fight.
