Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol is as attractive as Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford-Errol Spence. This is one of the fights that fans have been salivating over for a very long time.

There are certain fights in certain weight classes that you look at and think, “This is what needs to happen,” and wonder why they haven’t happened – but they do. There was a time, with Beterbiev consistently fighting in the Top Rank rankings and Bivol in Matchroom, that this would not have happened, but the Riyadh Season investment means that we are dealing with a top-level fight here.

The Fury-Usyk fight was great and we have every reason to hope that it will be the same. But even if it doesn’t happen, it’s critical that it happens and hopefully at the right time. There’s a chance the fight would have come at an even better time if it had been scheduled 12 months earlier, but it’s still a great time – everyone agrees these are two of the best lightweight heavyweights in the world. Some of the greatest fights of the state-of-the-art era did happen, but they happened many years later, and they should have and were less compelling because of that – Crawford-Spence being one of them. Beterbiev-Bivol also has the clash of styles and undisputed title-fighting qualities of Fury-Usyk, which adds to his appeal.

One of my frustrations in the super middleweight division, where Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-David Benavidez has yet to emerge, is that the wheels aren’t turning like they should. If the Beterbiev-Bivola fight happens before it is long overdue, the careers of Joshua Buatsi, Ben Whittaker and other lightweight heavyweights should be given the opportunity they have fought for and deserve. It’s the peak of an era – the end of a generational cycle – and almost as importantly, the face of the 175-pound division could change.

Such a fight – between two Russians – could be even more attractive if it were staged in Russia or in a hotbed like Las Vegas, but we have seen this kind of events before, such as the Thrilla in Manila between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas in Tokyo, Japan. Does anyone really wonder about the tranquil atmosphere at Tyson-Douglas, as if it were close to the main part of the story? The atmosphere faded into the background, behind the great fight itself and its course. Beterbiev-Bivol’s scheduled appearance in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, is nothing modern.

Bivol is a player who is closer to the top. He’s a very good fighter. He has an incredible ability to control and understand range, and knows not only how to make opponents pay for obstruction and range misjudgment, but also how to make them misjudge range – which really complements his hit-and-run style. Not only is he excellent at making adjustments, but he is also excellent at making his opponents pay and to the point that when they have to reach forward and lose position, they no longer want to hit back.

If anything, Bivol’s bad streak is underrated. He punishes his opponents severely and pockets them. Canelo went the distance with him in 2022, but from the middle of the match he had him in his pocket and stopped trying to win. Canelo fought Bivol like Edgar Berlanga fought him in September to go the distance without too much punishment.

On Saturday, it will not be enough for Bivol to be as consistent a player. Keeping Beterbiev out of range won’t be enough – he’ll have to hurt him consistently. Even if he does this, it will not deprive Beterbiev of his winning mentality, who will constantly try to win – he will have to be piercing, busy and reactive. But he understands it. Both players clearly understand what they need to do to win. It will be a high-level fight.

Beterbiev’s power is more perilous than any other busy fighter. Pound for pound, it’s the biggest blow in the world. Even if he’s a little past his peak, he believes in that power and will cut off the ring to put Bivol in a position where he makes a mistake and Beterbiev can get the large shot he wants.

His fundamentals are great and he knows how to make his opponents work much harder than him. The combination of his powers and basic abilities stresses out his opponents because they know they can get hurt, so they tire themselves by moving more often. When opponents do this, he can shorten the ring without as much effort, which unlike many other pressure fighters, he knows how to do. He won’t exaggerate either. Beterbiev was like Gennady Golovkin – so intimidating that opponents didn’t want to fight him.

That’s why their styles clash so well. Bivol can be a cat-and-mouse fighter who makes his opponents chase him and pay for it – whether he makes Beterbiev pay enough to get Beterbiev fired, or whether Beterbiev cuts the ring well enough to catch him, makes him Will he feel uncomfortable and in pain? Chances are we will see both of these fights, so it will be a great fight.

The winner of this fight will be remembered as the fighter who gave his best performance ever on Saturday. I’ve changed my mind more than once about who would win, but the closer I get to victory, the more I’m leaning towards Bivol.

Of course, I wouldn’t be shocked if Beterbiev got a knockout, but I think Bivol wins by stoppage. Sending it by post is not enough; he’ll have to beat him up to stop him.

HAMZAH SHEERAZ believes Turki Alalshikh will pay the amount Chris Eubank Jr wants to fight the undefeated middleweight.

Sheeraz is in an enviable position. Talks are still ongoing about a potential fight with Eubank, but the 25-year-old also has the option of facing WBO world champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly or defending his European title against Denzel Bentley.

However, the fight with Eubank still appeals to Sheeraz, and when talking to him, he certainly seemed confident that they would fight one day.

“I think it will happen and if you ask me about it without His Excellency’s support, I will say no chance, no chance, but this is the man who is making it happen,” Sheeraz said.

“I feel like it is [Alalshikh] like this fight. Society demands it. Every time they interview Chris my name comes up and he doesn’t know where to look.

“He acts like he didn’t watch my last fight when he was in the ring. It’s engaging how he plays his cards, but we’ll definitely get in the ring.”

Eubank was actually at Wembley Stadium the night Sheeraz won the EBU title in the style we have become accustomed to. Tyler Denny only lasted two rounds after another demolition job from Sheeraz.

The champion’s promoter Frank Warren recently announced publicly that Eubank Jr had rejected a five million offer to fight Sheeraz. Is Eubank trying to price itself out?

“You can say that, but then His Excellency and the team will turn around and give him what he wants and then what he will do,” Sheeraz mused.

“Then you have to accept the fight this way. If he doesn’t do this, he will be dead in the water after this. I think from a business perspective he’s playing cards. I don’t blame him. Okay, cheerful days. He wants to make the most of his last years in the sport, but I think fighting me will definitely make sense.

All eight participants in the title fights made it on the scale.

Takuma Inoue will make his third defense of his WBA bantamweight title. He will face compatriot Seiya Tsutsumi in Saturday’s quadrupleheader at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Inoue weighed exactly 118 pounds, while Tsutsumi weighed 117 3/4 pounds in his first career challenge.

Their scheduled twelve-round fight will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

Inoue (20-1, 5 KO) won the WBA 118-pound title last April. He was the first benefactor following the departure of older brother and now four-division champion Naoya Inoue, who vacated all four bantamweight titles.

Takuma Inoue has slowly made a name for himself. The Ring’s third bantamweight prospect impressed with a ninth-round knockout of former 115-pound champion Jerwin Ancajas on Feb. 24 at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo. He then returned just ten weeks later to join Naoya for a May 6 performance at the Tokyo Dome. His performance resulted in a twelve-round victory over his compatriot Sho Ishida.

Tsutsumi (11-0-2, 8 KO) is fighting for his first major title. This is the moment when a career comes to an extraordinary revival after a tragedy in the ring.

Although his record is perfect, Tsutsumi was forced to take the brunt of the damage done to Kazuki Anaguchi. Their brutal ten-round slugfest on December 26 was won by Tsutsumi by unanimous decision. Anaguchi never recovered from brain injuries suffered in combat and died in February.

Tsutsumi boldly moved on with his career. On July 7 at Kokugikan, he scored a fourth-round knockout of Weerawat Noolae.

In the collaborative video, former RING junior flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji aims to become a two-division champion. His test comes against former flyweight champion Cristofer Rosales for the vacant WBC flyweight title.

Teraji (23-1, 14 KO) weighed 111 3/4 pounds and Nicaragua’s Rosales (36-7, 22 KO) weighed 112 pounds.

Teraji enjoyed two separate WBC 108-pound title reigns. The 32-year-old from Kyoto, Japan became The Ring and unified WBC/WBA champion in November 2022 after a seventh-round knockout of undefeated compatriot Hiroto Kyoguchi.

His last defense took place on January 23 in Osaka in a majority decision victory in the fight of the year over Carlos Canizales (27-2-1, 19 KO). Teraji ran his record to 14-1 (9 KO) in major title fights.

Rosales (36-7, 22 KO) from Nicaragua was already confident of the title in his fight. He won the title in Japan by defeating Daigo Higa in April 2018. After just one defense, he lost to Charlie Edwards in slow December. In December 2019, Rosales knocked out his title fight against Julio Cesar Martinez in the ninth round.

Rosales has won five in a row since a questionable loss to Angel Ayala in an IBF title eliminator in April 2022.

Other scales:

• Both Seigo Yuri Akui (20-2-1, 11 KO) of Okejama and Thananchai Charunphak (25-1, 15 KO) of Thailand weighed 112 pounds. Akui defends his WBA flyweight title
• Shokichi Iwata (13-1, 10 KO) of Tokyo and Jairo Noriega (14-0, 3 KO) of Spain fought for the vacant WBO junior flyweight title at 108 pounds.

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