‘I want to do much better’: Beterbiev promises aggressive strategy at Bivol 2

Artur Beterbiev says it will be different in his rematch against Dmitry Bivol on February 22 in Riyadh. Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) is expected to put Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) under constant pressure, forcing him to fight or run.

In the latter half of their fight on October 12, Bivol suffered a lot of damage from Beterbiev’s constant gunfire. Although Bivol had gloves to block the blows, the impact of Beterbiev’s hard blows traveled through his gloves to his face, damaging them. Blocking doesn’t work when someone hits as hard as Beterbiev.

No more respect

Beterbiev now understands that he fought the wrong way last time. In the first five rounds, he showed too much respect to Bivol by not attacking him relentlessly. Artur moved away from his usual fighting style, allowing Bivol to win uncontested rounds that he would not have won if he had been pressured the entire time.

“The opponent is the same, but it is a new fight and I need to prepare differently. You want to do everything differently,” Artur Beterbiev told George Groves Boxing Club. youtube channeltalking about his rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22.

“With my team we will learn more with some details that I cannot tell you. I did enough to win, but I want to do much better,” Beterbiev said of his first fight against Bivol on October 12. “I don’t know. We’ll see, but my approach is the same,” Artur said of the rematch.

“No, I don’t care about this,” Beterbiev said when asked if he was bothered by not getting the knockout in his fight with Bivol.

𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 🥶 @ABeterbiev #BetterbievBivol2 | #RiyadhSeason | February 22, live on DAZN | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/ezvdJhax8O

– DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 16, 2025

The judges gave Beterbiev the victory by a 12-round majority decision in his previous fight on October 12 in Riyadh. There was much bitterness on the part of Bivol’s many fans and his promoter, Eddie Hearn.

They felt his boxing in the first half was enough to win, but they ignored the fact that he had stopped fighting after five rounds and running like someone being chased by a dog. It’s interesting how fans form opinions based on what they initially see in the first few rounds and then close their minds to what happens in the second half of the fights. It’s human nature.

Lazy people make snap judgments and then close their brains. Bivol lost the fight in the second half because he couldn’t get up and fight. Fear had taken over him and controlled his ability to fight Beterbiev.