Artur Beterbiev comes into this Saturday’s fight against Dmitri Bivol having never fought in a big-stage mega-fight during his 11-year professional career. Bivol has a huge lead over Beterbiev, having fought the face of boxing, Canelo Alvarez, in May 2022 in Las Vegas in front of a huge crowd at the T-Mobile Arena.
(Credit: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry Promotion)
IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) fought in two Olympics but never won a gold medal. However, he is used to high pressure from the competition he faced in those matches and the 300+ amateur fights he had.
Beterbiev’s greatest fights
– Callum Smith
– Oleksandr Gvozdyk
– Anthony Yarde
– Joe Smith Jr.
– Marcus Browne
Bivol’s fight against Canelo was against a smaller fighter coming out of the 168-lb division, and he wasn’t a natural light heavyweight like Beterbiev. However, it still counts that Bivol outboxed the highly skilled Canelo, who has only one career loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Beterbiev and WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) will meet for the undisputed championship on Saturday, October 12 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their struggle will be shown live on ESPN+ and is expected to start at 6:00 PM ET.
“The difference here is for that Canelo fight, Bivol was the underdog. Everyone thought Canelo was going to go there and capture another belt like he did against Kovalev at 175 pounds,” Bernardo Osuna told the State of Boxing. X. “This time he (Canelo) fought a guy (Bivol) at his natural weight who could box.
“So how much credit do you give Bivol for that win over Canelo in terms of it being a career-defining win and how much does that carry into the ring Saturday night in Saudi Arabia?”
“I think this can be a big advantage for Bivol in this battle. It was a big win,” said Mike Coppinger. “No one gave Bivol a chance. I also picked Canelo. Canelo was like a 4 to 1 in that fight. Like you said, we thought Canelo was going to go up and get another belt. We knew that Bivol was really good, but he didn’t come across anyone of note.
“As for the scorecards. They were all 7-5 for Bivol. I thought it was more of a 10-2, 9-3 fight. He was carving up Canelo and putting him on the ropes, and even when Canelo had Bivol on the ropes, he made him miss and pay. It was one of the most impressive performances in the last 10 to 15 years,” said Coppinger.
Canelo looked tired after the third round against Bivol, and he had nothing to hold him down after he gassed out. He didn’t do too badly in the first two rounds, but by the third Canelo had nothing left and was peppered with shots by the better-conditioned Bivol. Beterbiev is unlikely to fade away in this fight like Canelo did, and he has the size to match Bivol. The power and the short punches of Beterbiev put him ahead of Bivol.
“We’re talking about a guy in Canelo Alvarez who just lost to Floyd Mayweather. This is his only other loss. So, we might see a rematch at some point, but it was a very hostile atmosphere. Everyone was rooting for Canelo. It was Cinco de Mayo weekend, and Bivol really rose to the occasion. Beterbiev hasn’t fought at that stage, and he’s going on Saturday,” says Coppinger.
Beterbiev’s lack of experience on the big stage will not affect him, as this would be a different fighter who did not have the benefit of a long amateur career, two Olympics and an undefeated record. He has never tasted defeat and has marched through his 20-fight career, knocking out everyone he has faced.
