Dmitry Bivol’s team expressed frustration with the judges’ results after he lost a majority decision to Artur Beterbiev on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia, making Beterbiev the undisputed lithe heavyweight champion.

The judges scored the fight 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112, with two points in favor of Beterbiev.

At the post-fight press conference, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, representing Bivol (23-1, 12 KO), shared his disappointment. Asked about Top Rank chief executive Carlo Moretti’s comment that it was a fierce fight but not a robbery, Hearn responded bluntly.

“I won’t throw Carlo Moretti under the bus, he’s my mate, he knew we won that fight,” Hearn said. “I think he was seven out of five for us. I’m not saying it’s a robbery, but I don’t see how you can give Artur Beterbiev six rounds in this fight. I certainly don’t know how you can give him a seven.”

Hearn then criticized individual rounds, saying Bivol controlled most of the fight even though Beterbiev finished strongly in some rounds. “Go back and watch the fight. Look at him [Bivol] taking it on with gloves. Always in control.”

The fight divided fans and analysts, with many calling for a rematch after 33-year-old Bivol started strongly, but 39-year-old Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KO) finished the rounds strongly, which may have swayed the judges.

Bivol’s manager, Vadim Kornilov, directed his frustration at judge Pavel Kardyni, who scored the fight 116-112 in favor of Beterbiev.

“Pavel Kardyni should be suspended after returning from Chechnya,” Kornilov said. “This is my opinion. He has always done well in previous fights, so whatever happened here is outrageous.”

Kornilov’s reference to Chechnya caught attention, as Beterbiev is from that region, although he currently trains in Canada. When asked for clarification, Kornilov confirmed that he purposely mentioned Chechnya out of frustration with the referee’s scoring.

“That was the idea,” Kornilov said, explaining that he was not referring to Poland, Kardyni’s homeland.

JUNTO NAKATANI cemented his reputation as one of the best fighters in boxing by crushing Petch Sora Chitpattana in six rounds.

The three-weight world champion dominated the early stages of the fight against his opponent, who was never stopped, before shifting into high gear in search of a third straight stoppage win.

Chitpattana went down for the first time in his career midway through the sixth and appeared to recover well. However, a second before the end of the round, a forceful left hand punch knocked the guy down for the second time, and referee Laurence Cole waved his hand, without counting.

WBC bantamweight champion Nakatani is currently 29-0 with 22 KOs, and as a result of this victory, all three of his 118-pound fights have gone the distance.

Chitpattana’s last visit to Japan was in December 2018, when he was passed by Takuma Inoue in their Tokyo clash for the interim WBC bantamweight title. It was the only defeat in his 77-fight career so far.

However, over the course of six years, he boxed and won 28 times, earning him a shot at Nakatani’s full title.

This was the second defense of the belt, which Nakatani won by sixth-round knockout of Alexandro Santiago in February. It took him just 147 seconds to say goodbye to Vincent Astrolabio in July, but this time it wasn’t so early in the night.

However, he was regularly hurting his challenger in the early rounds and seemed to have no respect for what was coming back.

And Nakatani made his breakthrough midway through the sixth round when Chitpattana succumbed to a ruthless combination that started with a left hook.

He got up in time to defeat the Count, but Nakatani defeated him again. The Thai guy did well to attack under pressure and seemed to be able to stay in the leading position until the end of the round.

But then Nakatani, one of boxing’s most lethal fighters, found the finish, uncorking another crushing left hand that sent Chitpattana to the canvas face first. Cole immediately waved it off, achieving an official time of 2:59.

Junto Nakatani is a bad, bad man.

In his third fight at 118 pounds, the WBC bantamweight titleholder proved too robust, too powerful and just too shrewd for Thai veteran Tasana Salapat (aka Petch CP Freshmart) in an all-southpaw fight at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan Monday night.

Salapat, a veteran of 77 fights with only one loss to his name, has never been stopped before. That changed tonight when he was stopped in six rounds by Nakatani, who is currently ranked No. 9 pound-for-pound in The Ring.

In his first fight abroad, the 30-year-old Salapat knew he was in for a fight from the opening bell when Nakatani’s sweeping left cross buckled his legs for the opening goal.

Like most Thais, Salapat was tough and determined. He pushed for action and tried to involve Nakatani in the shooting. But the slender, six-foot-two Japanese boxer kept him at bay, encouraging him to come forward so he could lead him into counterattacks.

Nakatani’s counter left hand in the second round gave Salapat a taste of what was to come.

Nakatani dictated the pace from distance, picking up the pace round after round as the Thai reached out to deliver the killing blow.

Sensing he was falling behind, Salapat increased his workload in the fourth quarter. This was fine in theory, but it only gave Nakatani the opportunity to launch robust counterattacks of his own. The title holder remained composed and sparing under the incoming fire, making attacks on his opponent as he saw fit.

Things opened up in the fifth quarter when both boxers made an exchange in the middle. Salapat was the busier of the two, but the heavier blows came from the Rudy Hernandez-trained Nakatani, who showed great defense by rolling under the incoming fire and hitting challenging shots of his own.

In the sixth, Salapat started scoring. Nakatani did not give up and weathered the storm. A volley of two fists from the champion drove the challenger to the canvas. Salapat defeated the count, but it was only a matter of time.

A crunching left cross to the jaw pinned Thailand to the canvas just before the bell. Referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight with one second before the end of the round.

It was another dominant win for Nakatani, who once again proved why he is ranked No. 1 in the bantamweight division according to The Ring.

With the victory, Nakatani improved his record to 29-0 after 22 knockouts. Salapat drops to 76-2 after 53 knockouts.

In the semi-main event, former kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa continued his undefeated streak under the Queensberry Rules.

Nasukawa, 26, had no trouble beating 23-year-old Filipino Gerwin Asilo in his 10-round bantamweight fight. The Japanese southpaw suffered a minor cut near his left eyebrow, but otherwise cruised to victory, winning 97-92, 98-91 and 98-91.

The ever-popular Nasukawa improves his record to 5-0 after two knockouts, while Asilo sees the first blemish on his resume, dropping to 9-1 after four knockouts.