Beterbiev is a “monster,” will stop Bivol – Greg Hackett

Trainer Greg Hackett feels that Artur Beterbiev is a pure “monster” and will be too much for Dmitry Bivol in their undisputed light heavyweight championship on October 12.

Hackett considers IBF, WBC and WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) to be ‘brutal’ and too strong for WBA champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) to handle. He thinks Bivol will have his moments early, but Beterbiev will show up in the second half to knock him out.

It’s going to be interesting to see where Bivol goes from here if he loses the fight because there are all these big fights that would be off the table after a loss. He can forget about fighting Canelo Alvarez or David Benavidez. Canelo won’t want to pursue a fighter coming off a knockout loss, and Benavidez will fight Beterbiev.

“Bivol will look great early. He can even take Beterbiev to the point where he can stop him, but Beterbiev is going to stop him late in the fight, between nine and eleven,” trainer Greg Hackett said. YSM Sports Mediagives his prediction for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight.

Normally, Bivol is excellent early, but Beterbiev is going to be on him right away and won’t allow him to pick up rounds like he usually does. There is too much excitement for Beterbiev to let Bivol dominate the first two or three rounds. Besides, it would be a bad idea for Beterbiev to fall behind right at the start.

“I respect Bivol. I think he’s a great fighter, but I just think Beterbiev is a mean fighter, a tougher fighter, and I think he’s super determined. That’s what you need to be a champion in anything. Bivol is too, but Beterbiev is just a different animal,” Hackett said.

The power and stalking ability that Beterbiev has is going to be a nightmare for Bivol, who has never fought anyone like this before. The toughest guys Bivol fought in his career were, believe it or not, Craig Richards and Lyndon Arthur. Those fighters gave him trouble, and they are nowhere near the level of Beterbiev.

“I saw them both in person, but Beterbiev looked unreal. He doesn’t even look human. I’m not trying to upstage him. He looked like a monster. I think he’s going to catch up to him and break him,” says Hackett.

Bivol puts himself in danger of getting hit when he comes forward to throw his combos. He is predictable with his offense, and very findable as we saw in his fight against Canelo Alvarez. He took a lot of hits in that fight, but was able to take them because of Canelo’s small size.

“I’m glad we get this fight. It’s for the King of the light heavyweights. Beterbiev has been through a lot. Injuries, and he was cut in the ring. Bivol beat Canelo and put on some really good boxing matches against top guys. Now, we’re going to get those two together.

“These are two guys at their best. I love it,” Hackett said.

Beterbiev (39) is not quite at his best, but the form he showed in his last fight earlier this year against Callum Smith is more than good enough to stop Bivol next week. The power Beterbiev showed in that fight will be too much for Bivol, who is not superhuman in the chin department.