Oleksandr Gvozdyk recommends that Dmitry Bivol “run away” from Artur Beterbiev, not let him hit him, and stay off the ropes next Saturday in their light heavyweight undisputed championship fight in Riyadh.
The former WBC 175-lb champion Gvozdyk was the favorite when he fought Beterbiev five years ago on October 18, 2019, but was knocked out in the tenth round.
Gvozdyk was ahead on two of the judges’ scorecards by the scores 87–83, 86-85 while the third had it 87-83 at the time of the stoppage in the tenth. Gvozdyk showed that Beterbiev can be outboxed for long stretches, but it doesn’t take much for him to turn the fight around with his power.
Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) is more mobile and a better combination puncher than Gvozdyk was back then, but not as powerful or as sturdy in the chin department. For this fight, Bivol must abandon his combination punching because that would leave him vulnerable to Beterbiev’s counter-punching. He’s like a shark that preys on his food game to come to him, looking to land.
“He’s very smart, has good footwork, and has a very good and precise jab,” said Oleksandr Gvozdyk to Round Eight Boxing, talking about Dmitry Bivol. “These are two different styles of fighters. Beterbiev is a brawler; he’s coming and relentless. He’s very strong and also very smart. People underestimate his boxing skills.
“Yeah, because of his style, he’s just coming and breaking everyone down,” said Gvozdyk when asked if people underestimate Beterbiev’s technical ability. “People think he’s only capable of doing that, but he can also box.”
Beterbiev is mostly boxing, but his power is so strong that it results in him knocking out his opponents. He has heavy hands, and even his jabs have power behind them. Bivol is obviously going to be boxing and trying to keep away from Beterbiev the entire fight. That’s not going to be easy.
“He was an amateur world champion where you can’t really utilize your power for everyone. There’s a lot of technical guys out there. You’re limited by three rounds,” said Gvozdyk.
“Obviously, you’re preparing to avoid his punches. You’re not supposed to block you near the ropes because this is where he’s getting really dangerous,” said Gvozdyk about Beterbiev. “When he starts landing his punches on your [guard], you still feel them, and it’s not easy to fight this guy.”
Bivol won’t let Beterbiev catch him against the ropes, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get hit hard in the center of the ring. Beterbiev doesn’t need to trap his opponents for him to land hard shots. Many of his knockouts come in the center of the ring.
“He knows how to fight those kinds of guys,” Gvozdyk said about Beterbiev knowing how to deal with mobile fighters that use footwork. So, I think it’s going to be a really hard task for Bivol.
“It’s hard [to prevent Beterbiev from trapping you against the ropes]. When you’re fighting this kind of guy, you’re running your engine at high revs all the time, which really burns you out. Besides the technical and tactical part, you have to take care of your conditioning part very well to be able to fight Beterbiev,” said Gvozdyk.
It’s going to be difficult for Bivol to move the entire fight to elude Beterbiev because he’s going to catch him with short punches. Even when Bivol pivots away to escape, he will get hit with shots. Unlike other power punchers, Beterbiev doesn’t load up on his shots. He throws short, high-pack shots that do a lot of damage.
“Don’t let him punch you and work your [backside] hard,” said Gvozdyk on what advice he has for Bivol to defeat Beterbiev. “Run away because it’s not a good idea to stay against the ropes against him,” said Gvozdyk.
It will require Bivol to emphasize throwing single punches and jabs to prevent Beterbiev from hitting him constantly with his punches. Movement is important for Bivol, but it won’t win him the fight without him standing and fighting at times.
The judges aren’t going to bank Bivol rounds automatically based on three minutes of movement and zero scoring punches against Beterbiev. That works for some fighters when they’re the A-side, fighting in their hometowns, but Saturday’s contest in Riyadh is on neutral ground for both.
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