Promoter Eddie Hearn says he will ensure the rematch between his fighter Dmitry Bivol and his victorious, undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev takes place.
Some would argue that instant rematches hurt the sport by forcing fans to see an unnecessary second fight. That would be one thing the Beterbiev-Bivol fight was entertaining to watch, filled with drama. This was not the case here.
Buffalo = Shakur 2.0
Bivol was on his bike the entire fight, running away from Beterbiev and fighting in a safety-first style that fans worldwide dislike. If this fight took place in Las Vegas, the fans would have booed it, and Bivol would have been the cause. He fights a lot like Shakur Stevenson, an unpopular US-based fighter.
Bivol lost to Beterbiev last Saturday night, and he should earn a rematch by going through David Benavidez rather than getting a second fight on a silver platter as Hearn plans to appeal to the sanctioning bodies.
Matchroom promoter Hearn is upset that Beterbiev defeated his fighter Bivol by a 12-round majority decision last Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. If Bivol won, a massive money rematch between him and Canelo Alvarez was possible.
Beterbiev spoiled those plans by rallying to defeat Bivol, who had an extremely negative style throughout the fight, constantly moving, staying out of the ropes and making the fight nearly unwatchable for the fans who tuned in.
Hearn says he’s going to appeal to one of the governing bodies and tell them that Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) deserved the win and that they should order a rematch. The other approach is to ask them to make Bivol mandatory for Beterbiev.
None of this is necessary if His Excellency Turki Alalshikh wants the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch and is willing to pay to have the fight again in Riyadh. However, there is a growing number of fans who do not want to see a rematch because they feel that former WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol will be boring again.
More entertaining fighters are lining up to face Beterbiev, which will make it exciting to watch. We already know what we’re going to get with Hearn’s fighter, Bivol. There will be a lot of movement, and it won’t be fun to watch.
“For me, I think we will see the rematch, and it was such a big fight that we have to push for that rematch,” said Eddie Hearn. Matchroom Boxingtalks about a hoped-for second fight between his beaten fighter Dmitri Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
“Sometimes you appeal to the governing bodies and say: ‘Look, we believe we should have won that battle. We think you should have ordered a rematch.” There are two ways to do this. You can order a rematch, or you can order Dmitry Bivol as the mandatory. One of those things will happen in my opinion,” Hearn said
Ideally, Bivol should be fighting the winner of David Benavidez vs. David Morrell to get a rematch with Beterbiev rather than getting a straight shot after coming up short.
If there is going to be a rematch, team Beterbiev should insist on a smaller ring to limit the amount of running Bivol does, because it’s going to be entertaining to see him run around a big ring for 12 rounds, playing away, try to spoil his way to victory.
