Artur Beterbavin will become the first defense of the undisputed lightweight lightweight championships in a rematch against Dmitry Bivol on Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Dazn PPV, 11 am ET).
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KO) defeated Bivol by the decision of the majority in October last year to add WBA belt to his WBC, WBO and IBF titles. For the first time, Beterbiev went a distance, ending with his 20-release KO street. Beterbiev took at least one of the lanes from November 11, 2017-imposing seven years of reign as a master. It will be the 10th defense of the IBF Beterbaview title, the seventh defense of the WBC title, the fourth title of WBO and the first WBA belt.
After victory against Bivol, Beterbiev said he was not elated with his performance and that he had to improve.
“I wanted to hurt with greater quality today,” said Beterbiev. “I don’t know why, but I didn’t like this fight. But one day I will be better. “
Bivol (23-1, 12 KO) suffered the first defeat of his professional career against Beterbaview. He landed more blows than Beterbiev (142–137) and was more effective, which is 34% of these blows to just 20% for the Beterbiewal, but that was not enough. He lost through results cards 113-115, 112-116 and 114-114.
“I have another chance,” said Bivol. “Few people have another chance. People like the fight they saw the first time and want to see her again, see me again in the ring. That’s good, I have to work on it. “
Beterbiev is a petite favorite to win a rematch on -120 for the ESPN plant, while Bivol is -105.
In the cooperation event, Daniel Dubois makes a second defense of his IBF heavyweight title against the former champion Joseph Parker. The winner of the fight could fight Oleksander Usyk for the unquestioned championships.
Dubois (22-2, 21 KO) comes out of the dominant victory in the fifth round over the former United Champion Anthony Joshua in September. Dubois knocked down Joshua in rounds 1, 3 and 4 before the end of KO.
Parker (35-3, 23 KO), former heavyweight champion WBO, rides in five fights, including victory in Deontay Wilder in 2023 and Zhilei Zhang in March last year.
According to ESPN Bet Dubois, he is a favorite to defeat Parker.
Let’s look at both fights with the title numbers with ESPN Research and Compubox data.
Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitriry Bivol
23: Combined number of title fights Beterbaview and Bivol (Bivol 13, Beterbav 10).
3: Boxers born in Russia to have at least three world titles (Beterbiev, Kostya Tsyzu and Sergeey Kovalev).
12: Unquestioned men masters in the era of four boxing strips.
1: The undisputed delicate heavyweight master in the era of four stripes. Beterbiev deserved this distinction thanks to the narrow victory over Bivol in October. With the victory in Saturday’s rematch Beterbiv would only become the seventh warrior in the era of four stripes, which effectively defended the unquestioned title.
50%: The percentage of total blows landed through Bivol against Beterbaiev in their first meeting (84 of 168), against only 29% for Beterbalwal (90 of 306). Bivol was also more effective in JAB, it landed from 23% (58 of 255) to just 13% for Beterbaview (47 of 376). Bivol landed 142 of its 423 total blows (34%), to 137 out of 682 (20%) Beterbiv. Beterbiev was a more vigorous warrior, throwing 259 more blows than Beterbiev and showed constant pressure.
33: Power Punches landed through Bivol in the first six rounds of his first fight, against only 23 for Beterbaview. But this was a different story in the last six rounds, in which Beterbiev landed 67 power beats. In the last two rounds, these numbers have been more impressive for Beterbaview, which landed 29 strokes of power 19.
13.8%: The percentage of landings hit Bivol in his 24 professional fights, including his defeat with Beterbieal. Bivol is one of the best defensive fighters in the world. Only the delicate master Shakur Stevenson allows for a lower percentage (13.7%). Bivol will also land on an impressive 8.4 JAB per round. Compare this with 6.0 for Beterbalwal and only 4.6 for Lightweight Heavyweight Division.
8 and 4: The number of rounds, out of 12 rounds that fought during the first meeting, in which Beterbiev and Bivol were separated by four or smaller blows.
30.1%: The percentage of total Beterbavie blows landed for a round – 18.2 of 60.5.
34%: The percentage of total Bivol blows landed at Beterbaiew in the first fight. Beterbiev’s opponents before the fight Bivol landed only 23.2% of their total blows.
65.2: Interest thrown by Bivol – the highest percentage among masters and pretenders to the title.
7: The number of fights for the title on the main card. The Beterbiv-Bivol 2 combat card contains four fights for the main world titles and three fights for momentary titles.
Title fight: Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitriry Bivol, 12 rounds, Until the unquestioned lightweight heavyweight championships Beterbiv
Title fight: Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker, 12 rounds, up to the IBF Dubois heavyweight title
Title fight: Shakur Stevenson vs. Josh Padley, 12 rounds, for the delicate title WBC Stevenson WBC
Title fight: Carlos Adams vs. Hamzah Sheeraz, 12 rounds, for the title of Adames’ WBC Middle weighing
Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov, 12 rounds, too ponderous momentary title WBC Junior Middle Wweight
Joshua Batsi vs. Callum Smith, 12 rounds, for Batsi’s WBO Lightweight Heavyweight Title
Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel, 12 rounds, too ponderous WBC massive title
95%: Knockout percentage for Beterbiev in his 21 professional fights, the highest among all current masters. After an outstanding amateur career, the Beterbavi changed the pro later than he is typical of a boxet when he moved to Montreal at the age of 28. He enters a rematch against Bivol at the age of 40, which makes him the second oldest, widely recognizable man’s champion. He has 1-2 in three amateur fights with Utyk, the current united heavyweight champion.
Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
3: Dubois’s next wins since his losing from Usyk in August. Dubois won seven (everything over space) of his last eight fights.
5: Parker’s winning series. He also won 11 of the last 12 fights. Parker, a former heavyweight master, comes to five wins, including 11 out of the last 12 years. His only loss at that time was against Joe Joyce in 2022.
5.3: Jabs landed through Dubois to Bivol 3.1 on the round.
38.7%: The percentage of Parker’s blow to the body that landed to just 21.2% for Dubois. The average compubex for heavyweight division is 29.5%.
9.3: Total blows landed by opponents of Dubois. He is also defensively responsible for the power of power landed by his opponents. Parker’s opponents land 28.7% of their blows, 35.3% of their blows. Dubois lands 14.3 strokes to the round (32.2%) compared to 12 for Parker (28.5%).
88%: Percentage of Ko Dubois in his 24 fights. Of his 22 wins, 21 were in space – 95% KO, the highest of all boxers in the ESPN heavyweight list.
Gervonta Davis is set to return to action in the new year and ‘Tank’ may well do so in an immediate world title challenge, with one fighter willing to offering him a shot at his old belt under one condition.
Davis has held titles at super-featherweight and super-lightweight but was most recently the WBA lightweight champion, until his prolonged stretch of inactivity – since March 2025 – caused the Baltimore knockout artist to be stripped of his world title.
Instead, the 31-year-old has been named as the WBA’s ‘champion-in-recess’ in the 135lb division, with Floyd Schofield and Lucas Bahdi scheduled to compete for the full vacant WBA crown next weekend in Chicago.
Speaking ahead of that fight, Schofield told Fight Hub TV that he would be more than willing to defend the title against Davis, if he is able to overcome Bahdi and become the new lightweight world champion at the age of just 24 years old.
“I’m not going to lie. If Tank did want to come back and was like, ‘I want that fight and I want that belt back,’ I have no problem with it because he is the so-called boogeyman.
“Like I have always been saying, if you get Tank on your record, if you beat Tank, then there is not a lot that people can say.
“Until then, I am looking to collect all of the belts at 135lbs and to then go on to 140lbs.”
Schofield-Bahdi will take place at the Wintrust Arena on Saturday, October 10, with Ricardo Sandoval defending his unified WBC and WBA flyweight world titles against fellow Mexican Sergio Mendoza Cordova in the co-main event.
Either Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua will join Lennox Lewis as the second three-time heavyweight world champion from the UK when they collide in later this year, and ‘The Lion’ has now updated his prediction for the contest.
After prolonged negotiations and their respective ‘warm-up’ bouts against Mariusz Wach and Kristian PrengaFury and Joshua are finally set to enter the ring against each other. Wednesday’s launch press conference saw the two men come face to face for the first time, following what was a surprisingly friendly affair.
Having witnessed those fights back in July, Lewis admitted that he was favouring ‘The Gypsy King’ to come out on top in the long-awaited bout, believing his two most recent showings to be more impressive than those of Joshua, as per DAZN.
“Fury is closer but both are shadows of their former selves.I’dside with Fury,
“He showed me more in his two fights [against Arslanbek Makhmudov and Wach] than Joshua has recently. He boxed a YouTuber [Jake Paul]now boxed a guy [Prenga] who knocked him down twice and next faces Fury? That’s a big step up.”
However, at the launch press conference for the fight between the duo – which will now be for the WBA (Super) heavyweight world title – Lewis declared that the bout will be determined by punch accuracy.
“For me, the most accurate puncher out of the both of them [will win]. Tyson is an accurate puncher and ‘AJ’ throws a great one-two.
“He has caught many people with the one-two. That is his most accurate combination, to me.”
Fury-Joshua will take place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 11, with Amir Khan now being linked to an appearance in the co-main event.
Simon Jordan dismissed Rick Reeno’s praise of Dana White as the king of combat sports promoters, insisting that the UFC boss’s corporate profits mean little to the athletes risking their health in the ring.
The disagreement exposed two different measures of success: building a lucrative promotion and ensuring the fighters receive a fair share of what they generate.
Reeno, The Ring’s chief executive, chose White over Eddie Hearn when asked who belonged at the top of the promotional business. He pointed to the UFC’s growth and the strength of a brand that, for many viewers, has become interchangeable with MMA itself.
Jordan accepted White’s achievements in that sport but rejected the comparison within boxing.
“If we’re talking about in the boxing world, Eddie Hearn is light years above Dana White in the boxing world,” Jordan told talkSPORT. “Whatever you say about Hearn, and I have lots to say about him, he will pay his fighters. He will pay his fighters fairly. And he will pay them promptly.”
Evaluating Dana White’s boxing venture requires looking past his promotional hype. A promoter can draw massive crowds while quietly shortchanging the talent in the ring.
Reeno countered that every promoter wants to make money. He also argued that some MMA fighters were earning $50 fighting in bars before the UFC created greater opportunities.
That defense explains the value of building a market. It leaves Jordan’s question about compensation unanswered. What fighters earned before a business became successful does not settle what they should receive once it secures major commercial deals.
Jordan’s argument carries flaws as well. Eddie Hearn holds decades of boxing experience, yet that background does not automatically guarantee he will outmaneuver White moving forward.
Reeno highlighted White’s ability to tap directly into UFC and WWE audiences to build a Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua fight. That crossover audience provides massive leverage.
The real issue centers on how much money actually trickles down to the fighters. Reeno argued that Dana White knows how to expand commercial revenue better than anyone else. Jordan questioned if revenue growth by itself justifies giving him top billing.
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