Gareth A. Davies met with unified lithe heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev “intimidation” Dmitry Bivol during portions of the later rounds to secure a 12-round majority victory last Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyad.

Where Bivol made the huge mistake of playing it secure in the 12th round by moving and holding on to Beterbiev, Dmitry acted like he already had the victory in his pocket and wanted to pull out to make sure he didn’t get knocked out. In retrospect, it was a substantial mistake.

Bivol (23-1, 12 KO) claims that he was not tired in the last three rounds from the 10th, but tried to be “perfect” while Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KO) fired at him. What Bivol means by being “perfect” can be translated as being elusive to avoid being bombed. He tried to neutralize Beterbiev’s attack, but forgot that he had to commit to win the 10th, 11th and 12th rounds.

Bivol retreated under fire and didn’t give much back in the last three rounds, with Beterbiev finishing him off. Pro-Bivola fans claim that he blocked Beterbiev’s shots and missed. This is not what happened. He was hit a lot by Beterbiev and looked like he was trying to save his skin.

“The second half of the fight, except for the ninth round, I made Beterbiev win. Biwol [won] probably the first four, but the fourth round was a bit of a bust. Beterbiev commanded the remaining rounds,” said Gareth A. Davies Professional boxing fansproviding a summary of his analysis of the results of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol.

“In the seven I gave to Beterbiev, there were a few assassinations, but I gave these seven to him. His aggressive ring general stance, his tenacity, and the fact that Bivol often came from behind. I watched it again this morning and gave the fourth round to Bivol.

“After watching the match carefully, I scored to make it 7-5. I just think Beterbiev did a more persistent and aggressive job. It was a very fierce fight. I wouldn’t argue with a draw in these shuttle rounds. I liked what I saw from him. Sometimes I thought he was bullying Bivol. I don’t think everyone agrees with that,” Gareth said.

Beterbiev did more than just abuse Bivol while stretching out the fights. He hit him with continuous difficult punches, making him look bad.

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.

Junto Nakatani, one of the best fighters in the world, defended his WBC bantamweight crown and remained on track for arguably the biggest fight in Japanese history against Naoyi Inoue after a sixth-round victory over Filipino Petch Sora Chitpattna.

The defending champion from Sagamihara, Kanagawa, won his third quick victory in 2024 and improved his record to 29-0 (22 KO).

The challenger dropped to 76-2 (53 KO).

Both started conservatively, but Chitpattna trembled after bowling left-handed in the first over. Nakatani, often with his hands down, carefully assessed what was in front of him.

In the second second, he also switched Chitpattna to his left arm and stayed away from Chitpattna’s shots.

Nakatani picked up the pace in the third quarter but remained patient and moved well, with Chitpattna often only making contact in the air or on Nakatani’s shoulders.

Junto landed two brief right hooks and a right hand in the fourth, followed moments later by a long left hand.

Chitpattna stubbornly pressed forward in the fifth and sixth periods, gritted his teeth and fired with both hands, but Nakatani was the cleaner and hit Chitpattna with solid punches.

Midway through the sixth puck, Nakatani stunned Chitpattna with a thunderous straight left arm, and the dazed challenger was overwhelmed and floored by subsequent punches.

Chitpattna bravely tried to counterattack, Nakatani again looked to land a large left, he swung and missed dramatically once, but he succeeded in the final moments of the round and Chitpattna hit the deck, fell on his back and the fight was waved off at 2:59 of the sixth .

The fighter ran into the ring at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena and looked relaxed, but the 77-fight veteran – who apparently has the same number of nicknames – was ultimately added to Nakatani’s top knockouts.

Chitpattna was the No. 1 contender in the WBC, but two of his last three fights have been six-rounders, and the only recognizable name on his record is Takuma Inoue, who in 2018 defeated Chitpattna on points over 12 rounds in his only other fight other than Philippines.

It was Nakatani’s third victory this year, following a sixth-round victory over Alexandro Santiago and a first-round stoppage of Vincent Astrolabio.

In the bantamweight division, Tenshin Nasukawa of Tokyo improved to 5-0 (1 KO) with a 10-round decision over Gerwin Asilo of Bohol, Philippines, who is now 9-1 (4 KO).

Nasukawa won my advantage 97-92 and 98-91 (twice).

For Nasukawa, a southpaw who did most of his work without the jab, it was a steady job, whether he was bowling singles, doubles or coming in for them.

Nasukawa also scored with a left to the body and led with a right hook throughout the fifth round, although he countered with a right for his troubles.

Overall, Asilo was too passive. He was knocked off balance and dropped on the ninth kick, although Nasukawa suffered a cut to his left eye on the final headbutt.

Nasukawa, a former kickboxer who took part in a bizarre boxing exhibition with Floyd Mayweather five years ago, was nonetheless in great control and won the WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight title.