David Benavidez insists former WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol deserved to win his fight against IBF/WBC/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev on October 12 last year in Riyadh.
Bivol’s superiority
WBC ‘interim’ 175-lb champion Benavidez says Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) threw the better combinations and controlled most of the fight. He feels that if Bivol (34) fights the same way he did last time, he will defeat undisputed champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) in their rematch on February 22nd in Riyadh. Their fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV.
Some believe that the reason Benavidez is picking Bivol to win the rematch is his desire for him to win because he may not have the confidence to defeat Beterbiev, who is a massive puncher. The ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s fighting style involves putting every ounce of energy into every punch he throws in order to get maximum power on his shots.
David is not a big puncher so he charges everything he throws to improve his power. That style won’t work against Beterbiev, because he throws short punches with great power, and unlike Benavidez, he doesn’t need to wiggle to generate his power.
If Benavidez fights Artur, it will be a miserable night. He couldn’t load up on his shots because he would be tagged. Additionally, David’s rapid-fire combination shots would open him up to being countered and knocked out by Beterbiev.
Although Benavidez takes good shots due to his thick skull, which has a slight acromegaly-like appearance, his ability to take shots to the body is not as good. He can get hurt there. In the 12th round, Oleksandr Gvozdyk landed a hard right hand to Benavidez’s midsection, completely shutting down his offense for the remainder of the round.
He didn’t throw a single punch after being hurt by Gvozdyk in the last round. Beterbiev is a better body puncher than Gvozdyk, and he will have seen that weakness and focused on that area rather than wasting punches on Benavidez’s thick skull.
Rematch prediction
“I thought Bivol won that fight. It was a close battle. It couldn’t have gone either way,” David Benavidez told the mediatalking about the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight on October 12 last year in Riyadh.
“I feel that Bivol won most of the rounds. He controlled most of the rounds, and his combination punches were better,” Benavidez continued. “I think he (Bivol) does it (wins the rematch on February 22).
“Both of those fighters are high caliber fighters. So they can make adjustments. I don’t know if it’s going to be the same fight or not, but if it’s the same fight, I feel Bivol wins.”
