Bernstein On Boxing: Beterbiev vs Bivol

My mission in this column is to examine the Dimitry Bivol-Artur Beterbiev fight for its historical significance. The simple way to start and end the historical significance discussion would be to say this is the one and only time in the four belt era that we have a fight for the undisputed light heavyweight title.

So, that’s it. Right? Well, I owe the editors Ring Magazine and more importantly all of you maybe a little more nuance than that.

I’m actually going to look at this mega match from three angles:

1. How does the past look in terms of title-matches in this division?

2. Titles aside, how does this match feel compared to some others in terms of significance and importance to the current boxing landscape?

And 3. Just how good is this boxing match considering its place among other greats?

These are my self-imposed marching orders and we go on our journey.

The four-belt era – where you need the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO belts to be considered undisputed champion – began in 2007 and as said, this bout will be the unicorn in it so far. Period. The triple belt era (WBC, WBA and IBF) went from 1983 to 2007 and two fighters held undisputed titles – Roy Jones Jr. and Michael Spinks.

In the two-belt era from 1963 to 1983 (WBC and WBA), six boxers were undisputed champions. This great group was Harold Johnson, Willie Pastrano, Jose Torres, Dick Tiger, Bob Foster and Spinks. All the undisputed champions of these three eras are members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. It’s not unreasonable to think that the winner of Bivol-Beterbiev greatly increases his chances of being entrenched in Canastota (although both men will likely be established there).

While all of these men were undisputed champions, few were involved in unifying matches of significance as we will see with Bivol and Beterbiev. There are really only two total unification matches for all of these men that are comparable. (Now don’t jump on social media and start posting hateful things at me – I am NOT suggesting that these men and other champions haven’t had HUGE and significant runs comparable to the current match. I’m just saying in relation to association matches, the number good comparisons to this one are limited.)

The first one that calls for a comparison involved the great Bob Foster taking on Vincente Rondon in 1972. Foster held both the WBC and WBA titles from 1968 to 1970, defending them four times. Before he defended against Hal Carroll, the WBA stripped him of his title, sparking a public feud between Foster and the sanctioning body. Rondon then won the vacant WBA title and defended it four times. With Foster and the boxing public demanding it, a unification match was set for April 1972 between Foster and Rondon.

Bob Foster finishes Vicente Rondon with a right after pummeling his rival belter with a left in the second round of their light heavyweight unification championship. Photo: Bettmann Collection / Getty Images

The bad blood leading up to this fight continued at the weigh-in when Rondon’s weight was announced at 177, two pounds over the limit, but then boxing officials in Miami ignored it and carried on as if he had made weight. Foster and his team were even more angry then. On fight night, Rondon was actually announced as 175 pounds. To many observers, Rondon, who was boldly confident in the build-up to the fight, appeared timid and intimidated when he entered the ring. Foster later said more simply “he was terrified.” Well, he fought like that. Foster came out on fire and totally dominated the action. In round two he took Rondon down to stay and secure the win and the title he felt was wrongly taken from him. He said after the fight: “I wanted it to go 15 rounds so I could punish him. I hate him and I hate the WBA.” All right then, no doubt about where Bob stood on things. Well, even though the relationship was rocky, Foster would continue to hold the WBA crown until he retired from boxing.

Some 21 years later, the light heavyweight division would split itself again. Michael Spinks held the WBA version of the title and Dwight Muhammad Qawi was the WBC champion. Both defended their crowns against excellent fighters and the public wanted them to fight. It happened on March 18, 1983. I was there in the Convention Hall in Atlantic City with a packed house of boxing fans. The atmosphere was electric and pundits and fans were anticipating a battle between these two men. It turned out to be a fairly dull affair with Spinks being the consummate boxer-puncher and keeping the charging Qawi at bay while landing a variety of punches. Spinks came away with the close but unanimous decision.

Michael Spinks beats Dwight Muhammad Qawi during their 15-round fight for the WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine light heavyweight titles on March 18, 1983 at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Photo by Focus on Sports/Getty Images)

The build-up to that fight feels very similar to Bivol-Beterbiev – split opinions on the outcome and high expectations that it will happen.

The key difference between these two light heavyweight superfights of the past and Bivol-Beterbiev is that boxing was not as broken back then and the demand for the best to fight the best was more tangible and generally more attainable. So it only took about two years of a title split for these matches to come about.

The hype for a Bivol-Beterbiev fight is at least five years old – probably more. They both faced good competition and collectively fought for just about everyone of importance in their division – except each other.

One of the other differences is that during these older unification matches (especially Qawi vs Spinks) they were hardly the ONLY light heavyweight fights.

There were so many great men in the 175-pound division and they all fought each other in such a way that having a big and exciting light heavyweight fight felt less like a calendar-circled event and more like any old regular Saturday.

This is hardly the case these days. With fighters fighting less often, and a division with less than impressive potential matchups, Bivol-Beterbiev appears to be more important to the weight class and to boxing in general.

Despite that less than equal comparison to those other light heavyweight eras, make no mistake, this fight deserves to be talked about in the same breath as the greats of the past. The 1970s and ’80s were golden decades for this division, but if Bivol and Beterbiev had roamed the earth in those days, I assure you they would have competed for titles and engaged in classic fights with those men.

This is a great fight because these two men are such special fighters and because they beat the other significant fighters in their division. Bivol added extra spice to the mix by turning down the challenge of an undisputed champion (and biggest star in the sport) in the weight class below him.

Dmitry Bivol (left) on the attack against Canelo Alvarez (right) – Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom

So, will this fight do what many, but not all, mega-fights do, measure up on fight night? I think the likely answer is yes. It’s a fantastic combination of styles, even if some were too simplistic in their approach to this fight. It is a misnomer to say that it is a pure boxer (Bivol) vs. a puncher (Beterviev) match is. Even though Beterbiev is a killer puncher who has knocked out EVERY opponent as a pro, he also happens to be a very skilled technician in the ring with a high boxing IQ. As for Bivol, even though nine of his last 10 fights have gone the distance and he is a boxer by nature and has shown enough pop to get opponents up and fight off his front foot. He certainly did that against Canelo Alvarez.

Two things work against Beterbiev. First the injury to him that caused the rescheduling of this fight and secondly his age. He’s been superb in recent fights and has shown no signs of diminished ability, but he’s 39 and by any standard advanced for a prize fighter. The big advantage for him is that he can hurt anyone in the ring and power never goes away.

Whether it’s in a bar or on social media, boxing fans have had some fascinating conversations and debates about this match. Even if some disagree on the outcome, I feel there is unity in the fact that this will be a prize fight worth watching.

Artur Beterbiev punishes Callum Smith during their WBC/IBF/WBO light heavyweight title match at Videotron Center in Quebec City, Canada. (Photo by Mathieu Belanger/Getty Images)

It exists in a division that has produced great battles in the past. Visions of Micheal Spinks, Matthew Saad Muhamad, Bob Foster, Archie Moore, Yaqui Lopez, Roy Jones Jr., Victor Galindez, Antonio Tarver, Sergey Kovalev, Marvin Johnson, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and so many more will dance in our minds as we think of the excellence of this division and enjoys the current incarnation of greatness at 175 pounds.

I have seen quite a bit of that excellence. I look forward to seeing more of it on October 12th.