No signs of Artur Beterbiev aging, no lingering problems from surgery, says assistant trainer

Artur Beterbiev is 39 years old, which is past the prime years for most fighters. He has not been overly active, fighting once in 2022 and once in 2023. And ahead of his second fight of 2024, Beterbiev underwent knee surgery to repair a ruptured meniscus.

But the lineal light heavyweight champion isn’t showing signs of age, wear or tear, according to his assistant trainer, John Scully.

It’s understandable if you take that with more than a grain of salt. No member of a fighter’s camp is going to acknowledge that their boxer is declining, especially ahead of Beterbiev’s Oct. 12 fight with fellow titleholder Dmitry Bivol to crown an undisputed champion at 175 pounds. Still, Scully makes a case that the IBF, WBC and WBO titleholder is still performing at a high level.

“When I watch him, I never think about his age,” Scully told me in a recent interview, which will be broadcast in full on an upcoming episode of ”United Boxing,” a podcast I co-host. “And I find that it’s kind of amusing, because I grew up in an era where when you were 32, that was considered the top of the hill.”

Scully, who fought as a pro from 1988 until 2001, was 33 years old when he had his last fight.

“With Artur, his mentality is so strong in the ring and out of the ring. I don’t want to say he can go forever, but I don’t think of his age,” Scully said. “People said, ‘Oh, what’s he going to do? Is he going to retire after this fight?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t think so.’ I don’t see any reason for him to retire.

“He’s still going to come on strong all 12 rounds. If you think about it, watch his fights and tell me I’m wrong. How many guys do you know in the second half of their 30s who have improved, have gotten better? When you watch Artur’s last few fights, he’s good. He’s become a well-rounded, world-class champion, right? After the fight with Callum Smith [in January, eight days before Beterbiev turned 39], I told Artur, ‘That’s the best you ever looked.’ How many people can say that at 38?

“How many people can say that was their best performance, against a high level of opposition? How many people have done their best performance [at] 38 or 39 years old? Nobody. No one. You know, maybe [Bernard] Hopkins. He was [36] when he fought [Felix] Trinidad. And then he had a couple of good fights in his mid-40s. So it’s a different day. Fighters are lasting longer. Football players are bigger. They’re lasting longer. It’s a different world now.”

Beterbiev has had a few injuries in recent years. There was a shoulder injury in 2015, a rib injury in 2020 and a leg procedure in 2022. He also suffered an infection after dental surgery last year.

The most recent procedure, to fix his meniscus, led to the original date with Bivol being postponed; their match was previously scheduled for June. 

Beterbiev went to rehab in Russia, according to Scully.

“He was riding the bike up the mountains. He was rehabbing himself,” Scully said. “In the weeks I’ve been here in training camp, his knee has not been an issue. To be honest with you, I forgot about it until you just mentioned it.”

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.