Dmitry Bivol’s team said it has filed a protest with the four sanctioning bodies (IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO) to have an immediate rematch ordered against undisputed lightweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
This unnecessary move on the part of the Bivol team because the excellence Turki Alalshikh has already said that he wants to make the rematch Beterbiev-Bivol. Beterbiev says he is open to a second fight. It’s up to Turki if he wants to fight.
If he wants Beterbiev to fight someone else next, like Canelo Alvarez or David Benavidez, that’s what happens. Team Bivol presenting a protest will not affect what happens next.
Turki will decide. US fans won’t complain if Beterbiev faces Canelo or Benavidez next. Those would be far more entertaining fights for the boxing public than watching Bivol run laps around the ring for 12 tedious rounds with Beterbiev chasing him all night.
According to Jake Donovan, the Bivol team’s appeal is based on their belief that “most viewers” he thinks Bivol won the fight against Beterbiev on Saturday night in Riyadh. Team Bivol also asked to review the 116-112 scorecard of judge Pawel Kardyni.
It seems like a waste of time. Although the score was narrowed to 115-113, Bivol still lost the fight. There is no gain on the part of Team Bivol to have a slightly narrower defeat.
It is not clear where Team Bivol gets the information to prove that the “majority of viewers” had Bivol as the winner. That seems like an assumption of something. How in the world do you prove that most viewers had Bivol winning?
The judges scored the fight for IBF, WBC and WBO lightweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) by a 12-round majority decision with scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 116- 112. Bivol was ineffective after the sixth round, mostly moving around the ring after being injured in the seventh.
Beterbiev stalked Bivol around the ring during the second half of the contest, tagging him with heavy shots whenever he could get to him. Bivol was almost on the run in the last six rounds, and looked tired and mentally defeated during that part of the fight.
Bivol was like him mentally checked of the fight after the seventh round, and the remaining five rounds saw him in 100% survival mode. He was just trying not to get kicked, and it wasn’t fun for the average fan.
He fought well during the first five rounds when Beterbiev was trying to attack him, but after the fifth, it was all downhill for Bivol. Promoter Eddie Hearn spoke after the fight, saying that Bivol had won either four of the first five or all five in his view. He had Bivol winning 8-4, which is not suitable for the fight that transpires.
“Say that the team of Dmitry Bivol filed a protest with the four sanctioning bodies seeking an immediate rematch with Artur Beterbiev. The basis of the appeal is the belief that the majority of viewers had Bivol victorious. The complaint puts in parallel with Lewis -Holyfield I,” said boxing insider Jake Donovan X.
It makes Bivol’s team look like sore losers because they need to do this for a rematch to happen with Beterbiev. A second fight will happen, but it’s up to Turki if he wants to fight someone more popular after or after Beterbiev. There are many fighters that fans around the world would rather see Beterbeiv fight next for a boring rematch with Bivol.
Options for Beterbiev
- Canelo Alvarez
- David Benavidez
- David Morrell
- Joshua Butter
“There are people who think Beterbiev won the fight, but most people think Bivol won it,” Eddie Hearn told Matchroom Boxing about his belief that most fans think that Bivol won the fight against Beterbiev last Saturday. “He might want to put it on everyone’s mind, but we will see what plays out in the next few weeks and we will talk to His Excellency and see how this fight could fit into the schedule of the Riyadh Season and go from there.
What needs to happen is that Bivol will earn the rematch against Beterbiev instead of having it handed to him on a silver platter by defeating Morrell, Benavidez or Buatsi. If Bivol can beat one or two of those fighters, he deserves a rematch. I don’t think Bivol has the chin, the offensive firepower, or the mental toughness to defeat any of them. Buatsi would KO Bivol.
