Beterbiev Plans to “Correct and Improve” in Bivol Rematch

Artur Beterbiev says he expects his rematch with Dmitry Bivol to be a very different fight when they meet in a rematch on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) will defend his undisputed light heavyweight championship for the first time after capturing the final belt he needed to earn that distinction against Bivol on October 12 in a 12-round majority decision.

Revenge strategies

While Bivol says he should move more in the rematch than in the first fight, Beterbiev appears to be going in the other direction, hinting that he will be more aggressive from the start. Artur gave away many of the early rounds by not attacking Bivol.

Once Beterbiev went on the attack, he was one-sided, chasing Bivol around the ring, hitting him with hard punches and dealing with his constant restraint. It was quite obvious that Dmitry did not have the ability to fight when under attack.

Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), his promoter Eddie Hearn and fans still believe he deserved the victory for his technical skills, but the judges saw it differently. They scored it 115-112, 116-112 for Beterbiev and 114-114.

“I think he’s right. We already know how each of us fights. We have seen each other,” Artur Beterbiev told the media, reacting to being told that Kostya Tszyu said he expects his rematch with Dmitry Bivol to be a completely different type of fight. “I think, of course, it will be a different fight.

“Some things can be corrected and improved. Well, his punches (Bivol) are those of a boxer. “I probably won’t move there,” Beterbiev said of a fight between him and Oleksandr Usyk. “From a sports perspective, I would be interested in that fight because we boxed in the Olympic Games (2012) and in the World Championships.

“It would be interesting to try it as professionals. Not for money, although money is good. But my interest in this fight would be purely sporting. Much more than monetary.

Early aggression

There won’t be much difference in the rematch other than Beterbiev will attack immediately and Bivol will circle for three minutes of each round. Dmitry won’t try to fight because he was injured the last time he tried and doesn’t have the power or the chin to fight Beterbiev. So, he will try to win a decision by hitting and running.

“I’m surprised how he changes his stance,” Beterbiev said of Terence Crawford. “It’s incredible that he’s not left-footed but he can switch both ways. He even said that he does some exercises that I have seen him do,” Beterbiev said.