Lyndon Arthur picks Artur Beterbiev to beat Dmitry Bivol on Saturday night if he doesn’t age overnight since his last fight. He says he expected Beterbiev to get to Bivol at some point in the fight.

Lightweight heavyweight fighter Lyndon fought WBA champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KO) on December 23 last year in Riyad and lost by unanimous decision over 12 rounds. He also sparred with Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KO) in the past and saw the difference in strength between them.

Lyndon says Bivol didn’t hit as rigid as he expected going into their competition. He lost the fight against Bivol by scores of 120-107, 120-107 and 120-107. In the seventh round, Lyndon hurt Bivol with a left to the body, forcing him to retire. For the remainder of the fight after this round, Bivol appeared to fight less aggressively.

Lyndon, 33, says it would hurt him if Beterbiev hit him with 10-ounce gloves with either hand because he hits too rigid.

“When I was there with Bivol, I thought, ‘He’s not hitting as rigid as I thought he was,’” Lyndon Arthur said. Professional boxing fans about his fight with Dmitry Bivol last year, which took place on December 23. “I was able to defend a lot more punches than I thought.

“I was with both of them. I sparred with Beterbiev. It’s not the same as fighting, but the punches he throws to be able to take them with 10-ounce gloves at the pace he brings and the resilience with which he enters the ring will make it arduous for Bivol to keep him shut down.

“He definitely hits rigid with both hands in 10-ounce gloves, and hitting with 10-ounce gloves would be painful,” Lyndon said of Beterbiev.

It’s a shame that Lyndon never fought Beterbiev as it would have given him more room to compare him to Bivol. For now, he can only spar with Beterbiev with larger gloves and headgear.

“Bivol, it’s his shot combination, his distance and the way he gets into range. Before you know it, he’s there. Beterbiev is his tenacity and ability to move forward. He is very good at boxing. Because he knocks everyone out, everyone thinks he’s a striker, but he played for a long time in Russia’s amateur team.

Bivol jabs and quickly moves forward to fire two shots before retreating. Bivol almost always lands two punches and then retreats. It’s predictableand this may be one of the reasons why Lyndon was able to pick up on Bivol’s tendencies during their fight. It was always the same: jab, move forward, operate left-right combo and retreat. There is never any variation.

“He had a long amateur career. He’s seen many styles. He is very good at boxing. Yes,” Lyndon replied when asked if Beterbiev would beat Bivol. “But Bivol could headbutt him for 12 rounds. It could happen.”

When people watch Beterbiev, they see him attacking with rigid shots and hitting opponents with constant pressure. He doesn’t look like he’s boxing. He throws powerful arrows and tries to chop them up. But he boxes, jabs and sets up punches like a seasoned boxer.

Regular fans don’t see it, but they don’t know the sport well enough to see his skill. Even die-hard fans who are too inactive to watch Beterbiev’s entire fights to form the opinion that they are unable to see what he is doing.

“As long as Beterbiev still has something left in the tank and doesn’t get elderly overnight. If he doesn’t reveal his age, I believe Beterbiev will get it,” Lyndon said.

The only question mark from fans about Beterbiev is whether his right knee, which has undergone surgery, is 100% ready for the fight. He underwent surgery last May to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, so he doesn’t have much time for rehabilitation.

Sebastian Fundora can now proceed with his planned voluntary defense.

However, who he plans to face may determine whether he manages to retain his WBO junior middleweight title.

The Ring confirmed that Fundora (21-1-1, 13 knockouts) has been conditionally cleared by the WBO for an optional defense. This ruling replaced the previously ordered fight to consolidate the title with Terence “Bud” Crawford (41-0, 31 KO). As previously reported by The Ring, both sides have agreed to part ways for at least one fight. Crawford’s concession allowed Fundora to face an opponent of his team’s choice.

One of the key conditions sanctioning the fight was that the contender must currently be ranked in the top 15.

Update enabled #FundoraCrawford “conversations”:
It said the WBO had accepted Fundora’s agreement to make a voluntary defense. However, there must be a match against a top-15 ranked opponent and the Spence fight will NOT be considered a defense of the WBO title.

— Jake Donovan (@JakeNDaBox) October 10, 2024

This would likely derail any targeted gameplay with Errol Spence Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs). Such a fight has been rumored since Fundora won a split decision over Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KO) on March 30 to capture the WBO and vacant WBC 154-pound titles. Spence joined Fundora in the ring to issue a personal challenge, which was verbally accepted by Fundora.

However, Spence has not fought since a lopsided ninth-round loss to Crawford on July 29 in Las Vegas. This feat allowed Crawford to win The Ring Championship and completely unify all alphabetical welterweight titles.

The long break, combined with his last victory in April 2022, forced Spence out of the WBO rankings. He is currently ranked first in the WBC junior middleweight rankings, which would allow him to fight for at least this title.

Fundora now faces being stripped of his WBO title if he agrees to fight Spence again. The request to face a Top 15 fighter was made directly to Fundora’s team by the WBO earlier this year.

The Fundora-Crawford fight was originally ordered as an extension of a conditional order made by the sanctioning body in March. It was agreed that Fundora would challenge Tszyu at brief notice. Fundora won her blood-soaked Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) March 30 Prime pay-perview by split decision. The victory also earned him the vacant WBC 154-pound title.

Crawford holds the WBA title and the WBO interim belt at 154.

Instead of fighting to unify the three lanes, Fundora and Crawford will go in different directions.

Since his victory over Spence, Crawford has only had one fight. This came in his 154-pound debut, when he defeated Israil Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KO) on August 3 to win the WBA title and the vacant WBO interim belt.

Since then, no other fight has occupied the mind of the third-ranked fighter in terms of weight for pound except the super fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO).

For now, the interest remains unidirectional. Alvarez – the current RING, WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight champion – had previously downplayed the fight when asked about it. For now, he is not involved in this or any other confrontation.

The Fundora-Spence fight is tentatively scheduled for the first quarter of 2025 if the fight continues.

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Author: Sean Crose

“Errol Spence Jr. Confirmed Fight.” – he said – “and it could be war.” Although he wasn’t known for his boxing coverage, he was right. Former welterweight champion Spence will return to the ring and yes, the fight could be a war. His opponent will be Sebastian Fundora, the WBO and WBC junior middleweight world champion. It’s been a long time since Spence stepped into the ring without holding a major world title – since he fought Britain’s Kell Brook for Brook’s IBF welterweight crown in 2017. However, a lot has changed since then.

In 2019, the Texan crashed his Ferrari Spider in Dallas and was lucky to survive. Then came endless negotiations to fight WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford for the all-important welterweight titles (Spence held the WBA, WBC and IBF belts). Then, when the fight finally went down in 2023, Crawford gave Spence a world-class beating. Since then, Spence has not entered the ring in professional competition. With Terence Crawford sidelined for Fundora’s duties, the door is open for Spence 28-1 to face Fundora 21-1-1.

However, fundora may not be uncomplicated. He is every bit a Spence warrior. Moreover, it is not without reason that it is called “The Towering Inferno”. Standing at almost six and a half inches statuesque, Fundora will have about a seven inch height advantage over Spence’s five-nine-and-a-half in the ring. However, Fundora has proven that it is not indestructible, provided that it can be reached. After all, Brian Mendoza knocked him out in the seventh round last April. And Spence is just powerful. It’s doubtful that the jump to junior middleweight will weaken Spence’s striking that much.

It is also worth noting that Spence has only lost one fight in his highly successful and decorated career. And that loss came at the hands of the gloved Crawford, who may be an all-time great. Shawn Porter, Mikey Garcia, Chris Algieri, Danny Garcia – Porter has defeated all recognized world champions. Some might argue that Spence will never recover from his loss to Crawford. This may be true. On the other hand, this certainly may not be the case. Although it has not been officially confirmed yet, it promises to be very intriguing.