Artur Betterbiev fights on the David benavidez against Anthony Yarde Undercard against Deon Nicholson (22-1, 8 COs) on the Ring IV ‘Night of the Champions’ in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Betterbiev’s undercard return
Betterbiev (21-1, 20 COs) wanted to fight Dmitri Biscvol in a trilogy, but that doesn’t happen at the moment. Choosing the Alabama native Nicholson, 34, is an underwhelming substitute option.
Nicholson has one loss on his resume, a third round against Nigerian Ephetobor Apochi in April 2021. It is impossible to know if Nicholson improved or not because his opposition was so weak. He won his last eight fights and knocked five of them.
We do not know why Artur and his team agreed to this man rather than one of the talented contenders. The higher selected contenders would probably have expected a lot of money to fight the former unexpected light heavyweight champion, better Biev, 40, due to the great risk involved.
Betterbiev suffered its first career defeat earlier this year and lost a 12-round majority decision to Biblical in Riyadh. Although Biblical in stretching looked very good, Betterbiev dominated him early with pressure and had him in 12th place. The battle must have won, but the judges went with the Eddie Hearn-promoted Bivolution.
Betterbiev’s strange reality
For Beterbiev, it should be strange that he is fighting the Benavidez-Yeries undercard rather than the main event. It shows how far a fighter can slip if he suffers a loss.
It is unknown what position the Betterbiev-Nichoslon battle will be on the map. If buried among other battles, it would be a bitter pill for Artur to swallow. Not only did he lose a controversial decision in his last fight, but now his battles are placed near the bottom of the main card.
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Last updated on 08/06/2025
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