Bivol’s power threat in the rematch against Beterbiev

Dmitry Bivol believes he has the power to knock out undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in their rematch on February 22 in Riyadh.

It would be an interesting fight if Bivol decided to fight more aggressively in the rematch, as he was running and holding on for the final seven rounds in his loss to Beterbiev two months ago, on October 12 in Riyadh. Hence the judges gave the victory to Artur. It seemed like Bivol was trying to get a cheap win by doing the bare minimum.

Bivol is not a big puncher and could put himself at risk if he tries to go for a knockout against Betrbiev, who is above him in the power and toughness department. Dmitry is more of a physical fighter who uses his boxing skills to win fights. He tried that approach against Beterbiev, but was weakened when he was attacked.

Bivol’s new approach

Former WBA 175-pound champion Bivol must change his fighting style 100% to knock out Beterbiev. Dmitry, promoted by Matchroom, was too defensive and showed no desire to stand up and talk to Beterbiev.

Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) says he has been studying the video of his 12-round majority decision loss to Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) from Oct. 12 and looking for areas he can improve for the rematch. in 75 days. . The scores were 115-113, 116-112 for Betterbiev and 114-114.

“I’m trying not to pay attention to what people say. “I’m trying to pay attention to what I feel after the fight and what I have to do,” Dmitry Bivol told Secondsout about how he is ignoring fan comments as he approaches his rematch with Artur Beterbiev on February 22.

“Of course, I felt like I had enough power. We have a saying: “Even a stick (gun) can shoot once a year.”

“You weaken yourself if you find some excuses. He wants to fight him,” said Bivol about Terence Crawford’s desire to fight Canelo Álvarez.

It’s hard to take Bivol seriously with his speech about believing he can knock out Beterbiev because he seemed too scared to do anything but survive once Artur ramped up his offense at full speed after the fifth round.

Overcoming doubt

Bivol had the look in his eyes of a person being chased by an angry bearand he had no fight in him. It was pure terror.. Even to win the rematch by decision, Bivol must be willing to risk getting knocked out by standing up and facing Beterbiev, because he couldn’t do it last time.

Also, we saw the same thing from Dmitry when he fought Lyndon Arthur last year on December 23rd. Bivol was injured by a hard body shot from Arthur in the eighth and was on the run from then on. When Dmitry takes a heavy hit, he abandons the fight and looks nothing like a world-class fighter.

What was hilarious and disgusting was how Bivol promoter Eddie Hearn complained after the decision, feeling that Dmitry had won. Hearn chose not to take the high road by being gracious in defeat and barking about the score.

He should have admitted that Bivol gave the fight away going from rounds six to twelve. Of course, if Hearn confessed that Bivol didn’t show heart under the heat of battle, there would have been no point in a rematch.

Hopefully, the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch will close the chapter on this rivalry because it will be more entertaining for fans to see Beterbiev fight the winner of the February 1 battle between David Benavidez and David Morrell. Those two have much more fan-friendly styles than Bivol, who has a Shakur-esque style.