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Artur Beterbiev says his team made some changes to their training and hopes to improve at least 10% for their rematch against Dmitry Bivol on February 22 in Riyadh.
Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) does not reveal what areas he has improved, but he is counting on it being enough to make the fight more exciting.
10% better
The look on Beterbiev’s face during interviews this week suggests that he will attack Bivol non-stop and force him to fight or flee. Last time, Bivol ran away, which saved him from being knocked down, but still cost him the fight. He was too focused on survival.
I suspect that will be his main goal this time once he starts to feel the pressure from Beterbiev. Bivol is a good fighter when he doesn’t face getting anything back at him. But when his opponents throw, he peels or folds. He has always fought that way.
“We changed some things in training. I hope to be better in this fight than in the first fight,” Artur Beterbiev told talkSport Boxing about his rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22. “Before being undisputed I wanted to get a fourth belt. Now I want to keep them.
“If I get some offers for this, I’ll look at them. So far, I have only received one offer for a rematch and I accepted it,” Beterbiev said when asked if he would be willing to move up to cruiserweight after this to fight.
“I can accept any fight if I have different offers. I will consult with my team and accept it,” Beterbiev said when asked if he would be interested in fighting Canelo Alvarez or Jai Opetaia if he defeats Bivol.
“28,” Beterbiev said when asked how old he is.
Bivol’s tactics
At 34 years old, he is too old to change now, and the only thing he can do differently in the rematch is last longer. That’s what a lot of fighters say he should have done last time. That’s what we’ll probably see more of from Bivol to neutralize Beterbiev’s offense.
Last time out, Beterbiev started slowly, letting Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) win the first quarter of the fight with his jab and quick left-right combinations.
Beterbiev began to look like his usual self at the midpoint of the fight. Bivol had become overconfident and had not shown respect to Artur as he had in his recent fights against Malik Zinad, Lyndon Arthur and Gilberto Ramirez.
Clearly, Bivol misjudged Beterbiev and paid the price because he took over the fight from the sixth round and never looked back. The scores were 115-113, 116-112 for Beterbiev and 114-114.
Interestingly, many fans and fighters are pushing for Bivol to win the fight. They believe he had done enough to win the first fight, even admitting that he didn’t seem to win a single round after the sixth. They still believe he won. It didn’t look like Bivol would win.
For Bivol to win, he will also have to fight more aggressively, because Beterbiev will put more pressure on him this time. The judges preferred Artur’s attacking style to Bivol’s retreat.
“If I have the chance to get 10%, I will be much better off,” Beterbiev told Queensberry Promotions about how much improvement would make him happy for his rematch with Bivol. “I can’t tell you. You will tell Bivol. I know you talk about me with Bivol,” Beterbiev said when asked what areas he wants to improve.
“I hope and believe it will be a more interesting fight than the first one, because now we know each other,” Beterbiev said of the rematch with Bivol.
