The undisputed light heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) finally happened on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after years of circling each other due to promotional politics. The video trailer promoting the fight showed two warriors ready to battle, implying a war would be fought. This had fight fans salivating from the mouth, and when the fight was over, that highly anticipated feeling wasn’t fulfilled. Instead, it was replaced by the boxing world being split down the middle of who won in a mostly tactical fight.
High-Level Tactics = Less Than Entertaining Fight
Before the opening bell, there were some thoughts that if Bivol were to establish his rhythm early, we could all be in for a dominant boxing display as we have seen in his other fights. That doesn’t equate to a fan-friendly battle, so the hope was that it didn’t turn out that way, given the opponent, Beterbiev, being a savage knockout artist.
The first round was what we all expected. Both guys used heavy feints and footwork to see what the other would do and establish distance. Towards the end of the first round, Bivol made the mistake of exchanging with Beterbiev and got clipped with a right hand. This was likely the signal to Bivol not to do that again, and throughout the fight, he would do his best to avoid those close exchanges. The first five rounds were almost identical as Bivol dictated the pace with his left jab. Beterbiev was being aggressive with movements, only throwing a few punches that connected and having small moments here and there. It’s safe to say that going into the sixth round, it felt like a Bivol shutout. At this point, the judges had it 3-2 Bivol, 3-2 Bivol & 3-2 Beterbiev.
In the sixth round, things began to turn in favor of Beterbiev as he realized the fight was quickly slipping through his fingers. Although Turki Alalshikh was mostly seated throughout the first five rounds, when Beterbiev landed some big shots in the sixth round, he got up almost as if he had been waiting for this moment from Beterbiev. Alalshikh would say he wasn’t favoring one fighter over the other, but body language says a lot, and throughout the fight, it was clear he wanted Beterbiev to win. I’m not saying this had anything to do with the outcome, but what he said after the fight [being unbiased] and what he did throughout the fight were two different things.
Beterbiev would have another big round in the seventh, as Bivol seemed to be running out of gas. There were moments when Bivol appeared hurt and held onto Beterbiev to avoid further damage. Beterbiev would dominate the eighth, but Bivol would come charging back in the ninth round. Bivol got back to leading with the left jab and followed it up with a straight right hand down the middle. As we approached the championship rounds, the judges had this fight: 6-3 Bivol, 5-4 Bivol & 5-4 Beterbiev.
The tenth round is where things took a turn for the worse with fight fans. This round looked like a Bivol round as he fought behind the jab, and Beterbiev threw some desperate shots that either missed or landed on Bivol’s gloves. When you look at the judge’s scorecards, all three gave Beterbiev that round, which would have made it a majority draw if they hadn’t. The 11th round was clearly Beterbiev’s, and the final round felt like it could have gone either way. Ultimately, the judges scored it 114-114, 115-113 & 116-112, awarding Beterbiev the majority decision and the undisputed title at light heavyweight.
Will Fight Fans Be As Invested In The Rematch As They Were Leading Up To Saturday Night?
It’s hard to say whether the rematch will have as much anticipation as the fight on Saturday night. It wasn’t a classic and won’t be replayed millions of times on YouTube when made available. The fight was a good tactical battle between two high-level fighters, but it played out exactly as the matchup seemed on paper: the boxer vs. puncher fights almost always lead to the puncher chasing the boxer and don’t always result in a great fight. That was the case on Saturday night as the fights from Japan on ESPN+ provided more entertainment value than the most significant one in the history of the light heavyweight division. Fans were just complaining about Shakur Stevenson, but is a Bivol fight that much different from Stevenson’s? Like the decision of the fight, the boxing world is likely split down the middle on whether the fight was entertaining.
Will We Get The Rematch Next, Or Will The Sanctioning Bodies Do Sanctioning Body Things?
If Alalshikh has his way, which is often the case, they will do the rematch next year in Saudi Arabia. This will also be a way to cash in on the rematch being a PPV instead of on ESPN+ for those in the States. The whole PPV or not PPV for the undercard was a mess, and the confusion led to fans saying that they were not buying the undercards because they felt as though DAZN pulled a “bait and switch.” When Stevenson pulled out of his fight due to an injury, Alalshikh said the undercards would be on DAZN. Hours before the start of the event, a $19.99 price tag popped up for the undercards, and it upset a ton of fans here in the US. In short, Alalshikh and his crew will want to avoid all of that and cash in on the interest of the rematch by just putting the whole card on PPV next year if they indeed get the rematch done.
My Three Cents
It was a fight we have all been waiting for, but in the end, sometimes that means the fight doesn’t deliver like Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao in 2015. It wasn’t to that extreme, but it was close enough to make a reference. Let’s hope that the rematch could provide a clearer winner and that Beterbiev makes an effort to go for it much earlier than he did on Saturday night.
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