Artur Beterbiev is working with contender Craig Richards to prepare for his fight against Dmitri Bivol on October 12 in Riyadh. Richards. This is the perfect guy for Beterbiev to work with, as it allows him to pick Richard’s brain for clues to what’s bothering Bivol.
Three years ago, Richards Bivol faced his toughest career test, coming close to beating him in May 2021 in Manchester, England. Bivol assaulted Richards and won a 12-round unanimous decision with scores of 118-110, 115-113 and 115-114. Richards showed that Bivol can dish it out, but he can’t take it back. He had no heart for the type of brawling that Beterbiev thrived on.
Many fans felt that Richards deserved the win because he landed the harder punches and Bivol was afraid to engage after being hit hard in the first two rounds. When Bivol first got a taste of Richard’s power, he was very cautious.
It was similar to Bivol’s fight with Lyndon Arthur. Bivol was brave at first, but after being marked by Arthur, he fought timidly. What the Richards and Lyndon fights showed is that Bivol does not respond well to hard blows to the head. He will do anything to avoid being punched hard once he is tagged early.
IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) completes the final two weeks of training before meeting WBA champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) at the Kingdom Arena in 18 days time. The October 12 Beterbiev-Bivol event will be shown live on DAZN PPV.
@craiglrichards farm @ABeterbiev through his steps a few weeks out from the big one
#BeterbievBivol | #Riyadh Season | Oct 12, live on DAZN | @turk_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/CLNX72FN34
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 24, 2024
It’s clear from Bivol’s fights against Craig Richards, Lyndon Artur and Joe Smith that he will go out of his way to avoid getting hit once he nails it hard. Bivol might start well, but he gets shy and looks vulnerable when he takes a hard head shot.
Bivol is an excellent boxer, but his courage fades under battlefield conditions. In other words, Bivol is one of those fighters who can give it but can’t take it.
