Unified three-band featherlight heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev will fight for the belt of WBA champion Dmitry Bivol on Saturday evening in an undisputed championship contest at the Kingdom Arena in Riyad. The fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV along with the undercard.

This fight is supposed to be 50-50, but fans must be ready for a complete defeat against Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KO), who will be too powerful and tough for the finesse fighter Bivol (23-0, 23-0, KO). . 12 KOs).

Fans are hoping to see the war in the ring on Saturday, but they haven’t seen Bivol fight. He’s not that type of warrior. He is more of a boxer and has no desire to get into shootouts due to his history of injuries.

“It’s the best fight. He reminds me of the most stylish warrior in the world. It’s Dmitry Bivol against the most destructive Artur Beterbiev,” said commentator Mark Kriegel for Boxing of the highest order.

I don’t think it’s the best featherlight heavyweight fight, but it’s one of the best. There are more entertaining fighters in the 175-pound division that would give Artur a more fan-friendly fight.

– David Benavidez
– Anthony Yarde: *rematch
– David Morrell
–Joshua Buatsi
– Wily Hutchinson

“Artur Beterbiev brings three belts to the table, but Dmitry Bivol has this one. This is extremely valuable because he beat Canelo Alvarez [in 2022]. It means you are an elite competitor,” said commentator Bernard Osuna. “It’s a really fascinating fight. You can see it goes both ways. This man has destructive power and once he gets going, a freight train will just run you over,” Osuna said of Beterbiev.

I don’t see this fight as a fight that could go either way, but I have watched Beterbierv and Bivol’s entire career. This is a catch-and-mouse fight that could get uninteresting if Dmitry decides to move around all night like he did against Lyndon Arthur and Canelo Alvarez.

“It’s a fan-friendly fight. I think it’s a great fight for boxing because all the belts are on the line, but only one man can win. This guy is going to have to give everything he has in his career,” said analyst Tim Bradley. “Is this one of the best fights you can have in boxing? Definitely yes, because we don’t know who will win this fight.

“This is a fight for unity. This is a very massive motivation for me,” said Artur Beterbiew. “Of course, I’m excited. My goal is to become unified world champion. I try to be ready for every fight and I want to prove something.

Beterbiev may have beaten better players than Bivol in his professional career and was robbed at the 2012 London Olympics after dominating Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk. Artur’s wins over Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Anthony Yard and Callum Smith have come against fighters who are arguably greater professional talents than Bivol. They just weren’t as fit as he was.

“What is the minimum? The maximum is to collect all the belts. OK, that’s my maximum,” Bivol said. “This is boxing and you have to be ready for all situations.”

There’s nothing better for Bivol because whatever comes next won’t be as massive. Two-time Olympian Beterbiev has been a force of nature since turning professional, and it would say a lot about Bivol if he could become the guy who deals him the first loss of his career. On the other hand, if Bivol loses, it won’t be the end of the world. He’s adolescent enough at 33 to come back and win more belts.

Beterbiev will likely vacate four titles and move up to cruiserweight if he wins on Saturday, leaving the shredded belts up for grabs. As long as the knockout loss to Beterbiev doesn’t destroy Bivol’s punch resistance, he should be able to come back and win one of the belts after leaving the division.

Lamont Roach Sr., father and coach of junior WBA lightweight champion Lamont Roach Jr., knows his son faces a grave challenge in his December 14 fight at the Toyota Center in Houston against WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis. but he believes that this moment has come with special significance for both personal and regional reasons.

“Lamont and Tank have a history and were amateur rivals,” Roach Sr. said. “The Baltimore vs. D.C. race is real. They fought and sparred many times. It was always great work on both sides. Seeing them now competing on the biggest stage is a special moment.

The fight will be for Roach Jr. (25-1-1, 10 KOs) made his first pay-per-view fight appearance and his second official lightweight fight after a 2014 catchweight fight against Rafael Francis. Roach Jr. (29), from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, will face undefeated Davis (30-0, 28 KO), also 29, from Baltimore.

Roach Sr. emphasized that the importance of the fight goes beyond the ring. Although the No Xcuses boxing gym where Roach Jr. trains has produced many professional fighters, its main mission has always been to guide teenage people.

“It’s great for teenage kids in the area and teenage aspiring boxers everywhere,” Roach Sr. said. “I was really hoping it would end up in the DMV, but I think we’re taking it to the great city and state of Houston, Texas.”

The fight also highlights the historic rivalry between two boxing clubs that have shaped both fighters, NoXcuse Boxing and Upton Boxing.

“I mentioned the history between Tank and Lamont, but it is also the history between the two boxing clubs that produced these world champions,” Roach Sr. added.

Roach Jr., who has been boxing since the age of nine, has been a longtime standout at No Xcuses Boxing Gym. According to his father, this fight is the culmination of years of tough work.

“We have been a top contender from the beginning,” Roach Sr. said. “We achieved a lot in the amateur and professional rankings. We are world champions and this is where we belong. The world will see.”

Roach Jr. is not afraid of the challenge of making weight to face Davis, widely considered one of boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighters. Roach won the WBA junior lightweight title last November after defeating Hector Luis Garcia, Davis’ former opponent. Earlier this year, he successfully defended his title at home, defeating previously undefeated Feargal McCrory in the eighth round.

Davis also fought just once in 2024, defeating Frank Martin by eighth-round knockout in June. Davis previously scored a high-profile stoppage of Ryan Garcia in a blockbuster pay-per-view in April 2023.

“We are very cheerful and excited to compete for another world title in a second weight class against what many consider to be one of the best in boxing right now,” Roach Sr. said.

Oleksandr Gvozdyk believes that it would be good if Dmitry Bivol did not exchange blows with Artur Beterbiev on Saturday. He suggests that Bivol box and delay the entire fight because Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KO) is too powerful and busy with punches to engage in a back-and-forth fight.

Former WBC airy heavyweight champion Gvozdyk was knocked out in the tenth round by Beterbiev five years ago in a unification fight on October 19, 2019 in Philadelphia. Gvozdyk was competitive throughout the seventh round, but from the eighth to the tenth he was tired of Beterbiev’s robust shots.

In hindsight, it’s clear that Gvozdyk made a mistake by mixing up the fight with Beterbiev rather than using his legs, but he’s not that type of fighter. Bivol is much better prepared to move around the ring than Gwozdyk. So it’s possible that he will be able to stay out of Beterbiev’s shot range and try to win by decision.

What Bivol lacks is power. He doesn’t have the power that Gvozdyk had in the Beterbiev fight, and he won’t be able to stop him either. Bivol’s jab is also not as robust as Gvozdyka’s and that may be a problem. He will have to apply his legs more to avoid being hit by Beterbiev and beaten.

“It’s a good option for the fans, but not for Bivol,” said Oleksandr Gvozdyk Round eight of boxing that it is unwise for Dmitry Bivol to exchange words with Artur Beterbiev. “That may be the case, but I still think he is a very disciplined player and takes really good care of himself. Even though he is almost 40 years aged, he is still in great shape, enough to fight at the highest level.

“I would say Adonis Stevenson hit harder with one punch, but he never threw as much as Beterbiev. He basically looks for an opening and then delivers one difficult punch that’s pretty damn massive. Beterbiev, on the other hand, has a very, very massive fist,” Gvozdyk said.

Adonis Stevenson hit Gwozdyk with huge left hands during their fight in December 2018, but they were only single shots and he didn’t react well to getting hit. Beterbiev constantly hit Gvozdyk with punches and did not give up. Beterbiev’s body shots in the ninth and tenth rounds finished Gvozdyk.

“You might be able to withstand one of his punches, but he keeps throwing them and basically keeping you from breathing freely. That’s what makes him risky. He’ll catch you once, throw you again, and again, and that’s it. This is the biggest part of Beterbiev’s style. He never lets you go.

“Jab, footwork, conditioning. You should be on top of all the qualities you can possess. You have to be astute, you have to be careful, you have to have good defense, you have to be focused and you have to be fit. That’s the only way to beat this guy because this guy is really good,” Gvozdyk said of Beterbiev.

Of course, Bivol has been working on his movement and conditioning leading up to this fight. In a video of him practicing a week ago, he threw quick punches and retreated.

It was noted how much energy Bivol expended on the combination of punching and moving back three feet. He looked tired and it was obvious that it would fade away quickly if he kept fighting Beterbiev like this. If this had been a three-round amateur fight, Bivol could have used this strategy and potentially won by decision, but not in a 12-round fight against Beterbiev.

Mid rounds. Bivol will be exhausted and will suffer a penalty and may not see the championship rounds.