Artur Beterbiev puts constant pressure on his opponents with his short power punches, which creates mental stress and slowly wears it down. Paulie Malignaggi wonders if the relentless pressure Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) is putting on Dmitry Bivol will take away his will to win.
Even if Bivol doesn’t break mentally, the power of Beterbiev’s shots could take him out sooner or later if he lands enough. The question is, can Bivol move for 12 rounds without getting chopped by Beterbiev?
Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) has never shown signs of cracking under pressure, but he’s never fought someone like Beterbiev. He was in with big punchers like Canelo Alvarez, Gilberto Ramirez and Joe Smith Jr. Those guys are not on the level of Beterbiev.
WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol and IBF, WBC and WBO champion Beterbiev will fight on October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All four titles will be up for grabs in their headliner.
“It creates mental stress that can pay off later. Even if he doesn’t land cleanly, you create mental stress, and kind of take the sand out of the hourglass. You see what your opponent left behind,” said Paulie Malignaggi Probox TV about the pressure Artur Beterbiev puts on his opponents.
Beterbiev’s last two opponents, Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde, had their moments against him early on. They landed big shots that made Beterbiev cautious at times, but failed to stop him from attacking.
Yarde had more success due to his hand speed and the uppercuts he caught Beterbiev with. However, Beterbiev carried Yarde in the seventh, and he was easily taken out in the eighth. Bivol does not possess the same hand speed or strength as Yarde, nor does he have his chin. So, if Beterbiev can land the kind of power shots on Bivol that he did against Yarde, this fight won’t last more than four rounds.
“That’s what happened to Gvozdyk. He did well early on. Beterbiev is able to take what he can get because he plays the positional game. He cuts you off; he keeps that mental stress on you. He touches you wherever he can find you. Finally, he feels it will pay off, even if he is behind.
“That’s where it comes down to, should he land something? All he has to do is touch you a little. It will cause mental stress,” Malignaggi said. “Beterbiev, we’ve seen him break his opponent’s will to win, and that’s the question mark here.
“Beterbiev is a bit older, but Bivol also comes with the same determination and skills as Gvozdyk. He’s tall and able to have that in-and-out style, and it bothers Beterbiev quite a bit if you don’t break position, and you can make them pay,” Malignaggi said.
Beterbiev has never had trouble against fighters who used the in-out style that Bivol uses. In Beterbiev’s fights against Oleksandr Usyk in the amateurs, he hurt him and exhausted him at the end of two of their fights. He had Usyk on deck in 2011 and hurt him in the 2012 Olympics. These were three-round fights.
The fighters that Beterbiev had problems with where the powerful, who hit him with shots that made him wary.
“At 39 years of age, does Beterbiev have enough left to take away the will to win from Bivol? Is that even possible?” Malignaggi said.
Beterbiev will not take away Bivol’s will to win. It’s not going to happen, but he can still win by hurting him. Malignaggi fails to mention Bivol’s chin problems and the way he looks nervous when hit hard by Malik Zinad and Lyndon Arthur. It doesn’t matter if Bivol’s will stands. If he can’t take the power punches that Beterbiev is going to hit him with, he’ll say goodbye like the 20 previous opponents Artur knocked out.
