Artur Beterbiev hands Dmitry Bivol his first professional defeat and has achieved undisputed champion status at 175lbs. This fight was extremely close and really showed the levels of skill these 2 elite fighters have. The result of this contest has split the fandom with many fans believing Bivol should have gotten the decision. Regardless we now have an undisputed champion at 175lbs and witnessed a great fight.
Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol Early Rounds
The fight saw a great start from Bivol and it was very clear what his gameplan was. From round 1 Bivol looked to use his excellent footwork and speed to avoid Beterbiev’s tremendous power and pressure. Bivol was able to maintain distance and started to land his jab as Beterbiev pressed forward.
Round 2 Bivol had even more success with the jab. He was able to pepper Beterbiev with his fast and snappy jabs keeping the destroyer at bay. Beterbiev kept going foward and did try to throw however for the most part everything was out of range with Bivol able to slide in and out of range effortlessly. But, towards the end of the round Beterbiev landed a solid jab.
Round 3 Beterbiev turned up the pressure getting on Bivol’s case more. Both men did start landing some shots however Bivol had the cleaner work. Bivol was able to land some clean 1-2s and jabs. Slowly but surely Beterbiev was getting closer and did land shots on the gloves at the end of the round.
Round 4 Bivol again having success at range and able to land some nice counters. But, Beterbiev’s pressure finally started causing Bivol some issues. In the final 20 seconds of the round Beterbiev turned the heat up having success in the final moments of the round landing hard shots on the gloves of Bivol.
Round 5 Began to have more success with his heavy pressure starting to have an impact on Bivol. Beterbiev was now able to get off his jab and right hand. For the most part these shots were caught on Bivol’s guard however occasionally they’d get through. Bivol was also able to get off some counters with his superior speed.
Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol Later Rounds
Round 6 Beterbiev’s pressure continued to take it’s toll as Bivol was now neglecting his jab in this round. This allowed Beterbiev to have more success able to pressure unchecked. Beterbiev was able to get some nice bodywork this round.
Round 7 Bivol had started to find a second wind. Bivol got back to his jab and started to land some nice combinations. In fact he was able to get a reaction out of Beterbiev stunning him. After this Bivol started to pressure Beterbiev but in doing so he walked onto some big shots which stopped him in his tracks. Beterbiev then started to chase Bivol the rest of the round getting of his own shots.
Round 8 Beterbiev continued to stalk Bivol landing primarily on the gloves. But he was able to sneak a few right hands through the tight guard of Bivol. Bivol continued to throw his own flurries however they were not landing as clean as earlier.
Round 9 things were looking good for Bivol. Bivol was able to start landing good shots again and was doing do for the majority of the round. But, towards the end of the round Beterbiev began to throw more and turn up the heat.
Round 10 was very similar to round 9. Bivol had a very good start however as the the round went on Beterbiev got stronger. Beterbiev finished the round very strong landing good shots towards the end of the round
Round 11 was Beterbiev’s best round against a tiring Bivol. Beterbiev was able to land his cleanest punches of the fight and managed to seemingly hurt Bivol. Bivol was unable to get off any of his own offence.
Round 12 Bivol mustered all the energy he had to find another second wind. He was able to get back on his bike and land shots. Bivol would also tie up Beterbiev as he got close.
The Decision
By the end of this highly competetive contest the scores were as follows 114-114, 115-113, 116-112 in favour of Artur Beterbiev. Given that this is boxing at the highest level there of course was controversy about the scoring. Most people agree that the fight was highly competetive and even people who thought Bivol won didn’t take much issue with the draw and 115-113.
But, that 116-112 card for Beterbiev is head scratcher. If anyone has the argument for winning by a wider margin it is Bivol. It’s easier to argue that Bivol won more rounds than Beterbiev given almost all the rounds Beterbiev won were very competetive. If you had Bterbiev winning it wasn’t by a big margin.
Regardless of the scoring and controversy Beterbiev is the new undisputed champion. But, he is disputed by a decent amount of fans and promoters. Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, and Turki Alalshikh believed Bivol had done enough to win. Granted Hearn is Bivol’s promoter and both Warren and Alalshikh are affiliated with Hearn.
This does set the perfect scene for a rematch a controversial decision for a highly competitive undisputed fight. Both Beterbiev and Bivol have said they are willing to have a rematch. If there is a rematch hopefully there is a more conclusive winner with both men having things to work on and improve.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
