Dmitry Bivol will face the greatest boxer of his career in the delicate heavyweight division[ited championship fight against unified champ Artur Beterbiev in 19 days on October 12th in Riyadh. Beterbiev might have too much power for Bivol, who likes to throw combinations and leaves himself open. Getting countered by Beterbiev will be bad for Bivol.
WBA champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) is known for his movement and boxing skills, which he’s used to defeat the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Gilberto Ramirez. He’s not faced anyone like IBF, WBC and WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs), though.
Bivol hasn’t fought anyone like Beterbiev, and we don’t know if he’ll be able to use his in-and-out attacking style effectively against this kind of puncher.
Canelo, a natural middleweight in size, was too small to fight at light heavyweight against Bivol in 2022. Zurdo Ramirez was slow and limited in his fight against Bivol in November 2022. Bivol might not be as good as some fans had thought, and Beterbiev may expose that.
“When I think of what is a machine? It’s Beterbiev more than any other boxer in recent years,” said Ade Oladipo on his YouTube channel, talking about unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev ahead of his fight against Dmitry Bivol on October 12th.
“Some thought Callum Smith was going to go to Canada and take the titles from him. Beterbiev destroyed him. That’s when I thought this guy is the real deal. Then there’s Dmitry Bivol. I think he’s poetry in motion.
“You have someone [Beterbiev] it will break you, and you have someone who is poetry in motion. Bivol does not have such a distinguished CV as Beterbiev,” Ade said.
Beterbiev’s greatest victories:
– Oleksandr Gvozdyk
-Callum Smith
-Callum Johnson
-Marcus Browne
-Anthony Yarde
–Joe Smith Jr.
Bivol’s best wins include defeats over Joe Smith Jr., Canelo, and Gilberto Ramirez. His resume is similar to Beterbiev’s, but not quite as good.
“Bivol shut Canelo down. You can’t sleep after a performance like that. That was Canelo in the run-up to the fight, on the run.”
“I didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary at the time, but of course it was. In retrospect, it was like he hit me in the arms and knocked me down,” Callum Johnson told Secondsout of his 2018 fight with Artur Beterbiev.
“Will his age affect him? At some point, yes. Will knee surgery affect him?” Johnson asked of Beterbiev.
Beterbiev’s recent knee surgery raises questions about whether he’ll be able to handle the stress of facing a fighter like Bivol. Not just the movement. Bivol could decide to lean on Beterbiev in the clinches to wear down the knee and weaken it.