Beterbiev To Listen: “Always Something”

Artur Beterbiev was not pleased to hear Dmitry Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn commenting that he did not agree with the decision of their previous fight on October 12. Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) seemed upset and said Hearn always has something he doesn’t “agree with.”

Hearn had a contraction attack after unified three-belt light heavyweight champion Beterbiev defeated his fighter, WBA champion Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), ruining his plans for a lucrative rematch with Canelo Alvarez. How many chances will Bivol have if he loses again and is given another fight against Beterbiev?

He didn’t want to fight when things got tough last time and he ran when things got tough for him. While some fans think Bivol should have won the first fight with Beterbiev, they clearly formed their opinions after the first five rounds because his white flag of surrender was up starting in the sixth round. He didn’t feel like fighting and turned around and ran from sixth onwards. Hearn helped muddy the waters by complaining non-stop about the decision, but Bivol clearly lost.

I know there was a lot of money at stake if Bivol had won because there would have been a fight against Canelo. If Bivol had won, do you honestly think Beterbiev would have been given an immediate rematch?

No way on Earth. It would have been Canelo vs. Bivol 2. As for Beterbiev, he would have had to get a title shot again fighting the winner of the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell fight, because he is not as well connected as Bivol.

Will Beterbiev mess things up?

Hearn hoped Bivol could capture Beterbiev’s three titles and use the undisputed 175-pound championship as a lure to get Canelo to step up and face him. Beterbiev ruined everything by relentlessly attacking the timid boxer Bivol, chasing him around the ring for the final six rounds to win a 12-round majority decision by scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 114-114.

I agreed with the score of 8-4 for Beterbiev, but it was funny, if not predictable, that Hearn got angry afterwards, complaining that Bivol deserved the win. I hadn’t done it. The only way to give Bivol the victory is if the judges stopped scoring the fight after six rounds. If this were a six-round fight, Bivol would win easily.

Hearn fighter Bivol will get another shot at Beterbiev in their rematch on February 22 in Riyadh. If Bivol can’t win this fight, it’s a waste of time to have a trilogy. If Bivol wins, he will have the titles to attract Canelo. If that fight doesn’t happen, there’s always the trilogy with Beterbiev that Bivol can fall back on.

If he loses on points, Hearn will probably scream and complain that Bivol deserved the win again.

It will be interesting to see if Turki Al-Sheikh sympathizes with Hearn’s complaints and gives Bivol another unworthy fight instead of giving the winner of David Beterbiev vs. David Morrell.

“Yes, he did a good job. We can say that the fight is the hardest,” Artur Beterbiev told CajaNation when asked if Dmitry Bivol is the toughest fight of his career so far. “Eddie Hearn always doesn’t agree with something,” Beterbiev said, reacting to being told that Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn didn’t agree with the decision from their previous fight on October 12. “It’s always something.

“I am honored to be the main event on this card. Big fight, they do it. It was a good experience. Incredible, they did a good job for boxing,” Beterbiev said of the Saudis.

“It was a good fight; “It was good for boxing fans,” Bivol told CajaNación about his previous fight against Beterbiev. “It wasn’t the best fight I had and it was a good lesson for me. I learned a lot from this fight and I have to improve. I like to fight in Riyadh because they have beautiful events, great events. Every fighter wants this and I can’t wait to return.

“Of course, every camp is different and we also made some changes, which I will talk about after the fight. “I’m glad I have this opportunity,” Bivol said.

Revenge of the mind… 💭

🎥 @bivol_d | #BetterbievBivol2 | #RiyadhSeason | February 22, live on DAZN | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/hPwhSjeEJd

– DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 17, 2025