Roy Jones Jr. feels that Dmitry Bivol needs to be aggressive and look for the knockout to defeat undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in their rematch on February 22 in Riyadh.
Boxing great Roy Jr. said Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) fought well in the early rounds of the first fight with Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) on Oct. 12, but then “let him down” in the second half, leading to his resulted in loss.
Bivol must attack
Jones Jr. stated that Bivol must go on the attack and look for a knockout to win. Bivol’s negative, spoiling defensive style, which involved constant movement and pinning, and sporadic takedowns, didn’t work last time to get the decision against Beterbiev.
In the rematch, Bivol must show bravery and attack Beterbiev as he did on June 1 against fringe contender Malik Zinad. Bivol was the aggressor in that fight, scoring a sixth-round knockout, his first stoppage in six years since the Sullivan Barrera competition on March 3, 2018.
Bivol will have to change his hit-and-don’t-hit mentality to shoot for a knockout against four-belt 175-lb champion Beterbiev. He does not like to be hit, and he will need a complete DNA makeover to go on the attack against KO artist Beterbiev.
Bivol’s body language during the second half of his fight with Beterbiev last October was that of a frightened person, trapped and in pure panic mode. Whatever fight Bivol had in him initially was gone by the seventh round. He looked like a frightened animal fleeing from a predator trying to eat him. For Bivol to attack how Jones Jr. advise, doesn’t sound realistic for his timid nature.
Rematch tactics
“I thought Bivol came out early, but Beterbiev came back late. Both of them fought differently than they have fought before,” Roy Jones Jr. said Second salttalking about the first Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitri Bivol match on October 12.
“We expected Artur to try to knock him out. So, when he wasn’t trying to knock him out, it showed us that he also has boxing skills. This time, I hope Beterbiev boxes smart, but hopefully look for the KO.
“I know Bivol must understand that he wants to win this time; he will go for the KO. Attack more, be ahead, and when he gets the lead, keep the lead,” Roy Jr. said. said about what Bivol needs to do to win the rematch with Beterbiev on February 22. “He got the lead, but he let Artur walk back.”
The advice Roy gives Bivol would work if he had a different head on his shoulders. If you transplanted the courage of contender Willy Hutchinson into the head of Bivol, he could follow Jones Jr’s advice to attack Beterbiev on February 22nd.
Bivol will fight like in the first game with Artur by punching, running and holding. This is all he can do, because Bivol lacks the necessary bravery.
