Promoter Eddie Hearn says nothing has been signed or agreed to with the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch for February 22 not.
Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) are being talked about as either headliners or co-features on His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s huge Riyadh season card on February 22nd.
Bivol gave it away
Hearn is keen for his fighter, tougher WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol, to face Beterbiev for a chance to avenge his 12-round majority decision loss on October 12.
Matchroom promoter Hearn is still adamant that Bivol deserved the win, but he kept a tight lip and hasn’t cried or whined about the decision since the night of the fight.
If Hearn wants to be upset with anyone, he should look to Bivol because he blew it. He had no heart to fight once Beterbiev turned the heat on him. No matter how much running & holding Bivol did, he couldn’t keep Beterbiev away.
The people who didn’t have a dog in the hunt say Bivol gave away his chance to win by getting on his bike in the seventh after Beterbiev went into his search-and-destroy mode.
Bivol had no chance at that point. He was forced to flee as he took vicious shots from Beterbiev every time he stopped moving, and the clinch he did didn’t help. Beterbiev fought through the hooves and hammered Bivol at will. From the seventh round, Beterbiev dominated the last six rounds.
Hear: There is still no agreement on a retrial
“Nothing has been signed and agreed about the rematch. Of course we know His Excellency asked for that rematch in the ring,” said Eddie Hearn Pro Boxing Fans about the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol on February 22. “There were discussions. Nothing has been confirmed yet, and when it is I’m sure he’ll make an announcement.”
Of all the excellent fights on the February 22nd card, the most interest is in the Beterbiev vs. Bivol rematch. There are several good fights on the card, but this one overshadows them all.
Card of February 22
– Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
– Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2
– Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr.
– Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
– Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
– Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel
“Your main event is probably another tough chess match. The main event was a chess match because Bivol didn’t break,” said Paulie Malignaggi Probox TV about the possible February 22 headliner between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol.
Beterbiev will attack
It’s going to be a chess match because of Bivol, not Beterbiev. He will be looking for a knockout and will set his Bivol’s feet on fire right away rather than wait until the seventh round. Bivol knows he can’t afford to try to throw combinations like he briefly tried in the seventh.
That’s how Beterbiev hurt him. Bivol has to hit, run and keep in that order because it’s his only chance. He doesn’t have the savvy or the strength to stand and correct Beterbiev because he’s lacking in those areas.
“If Beterbiev can make Bivol break a little bit like most of his opponents break and Bivol starts to lose positioning because he can’t have the mental concentration, that opens up that fight as well. That fight didn’t open up the first time because neither guy broke position. It was a very disciplined fight at the highest level,” said Malignaggi.
Positioning = Continuous Motion
The positioning that Malignaggi talks about with Bivol is how he runs when attacked by Beterbiev, because that’s pretty much all he did for the entire second half of the fight when he started to feel the heat. Positioning is just code talk by Malignaggi for Bivol who goes into survival mode and abandons the fight. He did not try to win again from the seventh after he was hurt by Beterbiev.
“Let me tell you how hard it is to do when you have guys setting traps, and one guy (Beterbiev) hits really hard and all the liabilities and nuances happen. It was a very high IQ fight, and I don’t know if words can even explain it,” Malignaggi said.
“I can’t guarantee it will happen again, but maybe it can because none of these guys were convinced they couldn’t win the fight the first time. Beterbiev looked to me like he was surprised that he won the fight. None of the guys were convinced that the results couldn’t have been the other way around.”
There was no surprise on Beterbiev’s face when the scores were read. He knew he won because Bivol stopped fighting in the second half, and it was so clear who the winner was. If you looked at Bivol’s face, he knew he lost and showed no emotion when it was announced that he had lost.
Beterbiev’s surprise?
The only one upset was Hearn, who, when he had spastic, non-stop abdominal pain, was a classic example of a sour loser. He could have taken the high road and showed some class, but no, he had to make it ugly in the post-fight interviews. He sounded like a child having a tantrum.
“To me, Beterbiev seemed a little surprised that he got the decision. Bivol didn’t complain that he didn’t get the decision, but it feels like he could have gotten the decision. Most people felt he could have gotten the decision,” Malignaggi said, reading things that weren’t there.
“It might open up, but none of the guys are going to break, and none of the guys are going to feel like they did enough the first time. I think you have a great fight there,” says Malignaggi.
There is a good chance that Beterbiev will stop Bivol next time because he knows what he did wrong. He started too slowly and gave Bivol too much respect.
Beterbiev knows he has to jump out quickly, push, chase and not let Bivol clinch because that’s what he will do. Bivol is a treat and doesn’t care if he makes the fight unwatchable by moving. He just wants to win any way he can.
