Shakur Stevenson views Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol as “50-50 Fight”

Shakur Stevenson sees the Oct. 12 light heavyweight undisputed championship fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol as a “true 50-50” contest.

WBC lightweight champion Stevenson feels the Beterbiev-Bivol fight will come down to the pace of the contest. He thinks Beterbiev’s previous 20 opponents have “rested” him during their fights.

Injured lightweight champion Shakur was leaning toward outboxing WBA 175-lb champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) IBF, WBC and WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs), but he changed his tune.

It could be that Shakur watched some highlights of Beterbiev’s fights and noticed that he typically wears down and destroys pure boxers like Bivol. Shakur should take note of Beterbiev’s style as he returns from his injured right hand and begins preparing for his next fight against William Zepeda.

“Beterbiev against Bivol is a real 50/50 fight for me. Can Beterbiev land flush shots on Bivol, or will Bivol rest Beterbiev there like many of his other opponents due to the power? I think the fight that’s going to come down to what pace the fight will be fought,” Shakur Stevenson went on to say Xgives his thoughts on the October 12th fight between light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol.

Beterbiev does not rest during his fights. It’s unclear where Shakur got the idea that he needed these fights to be fought at a slow pace in order for him to win because he’s generally the one on the attack and pushing a fast pace the entire time .

If you watch Beterbiev’s fights against Callum Smith, Anthony Yarde and Joe Smith Jr, he attacks those big punchers and prevents them from resting. It is not the other way around. Beterbiev didn’t let either of those fighters rest because that’s not his style.

Beterbiev’s last five fights:

– Callum Smith: TKO 7
– Anthony Yarde: TKO 8
– Joe Smith Jr: TKO 2
– Marcus Browne: KO 9
– Adam Deines: TKO 10

In Beterbiev’s fight against Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic, he was on the attack the entire fight, forcing him to fight without rest until he finally knocked him out in the fifth round. David Morrell recently went 12 rounds with Kalajdzic, and he struggled against him by not following the blueprint Beterbiev created.

Began final preparations. Just one month before the fight 👊 pic.twitter.com/NRKPFxAvuq

— Artur Beterbiev (@ABeterbiev) September 12, 2024