Promoter Eddie Hearn says he’ll ensure the rematch occurs between his fighter Dmitry Bivol and his conqueror, undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
Some would argue that immediate rematches hurt the sport by forcing fans to see a needless second fight. It would be one thing the Beterbiev-Bivol fight had been entertaining to watch, filled with drama knockdowns. That wasn’t the case here.
Bivol = Shakur 2.0
Bivol was on his bike the entire fight, fleeing from Beterbiev and fighting in a safety-first style that fans worldwide dislike. If this fight had taken place in Las Vegas, the fans would have booed it, and Bivol would have been the cause. He fights a lot like Shakur Stevenson, an unpopular U.S.-based fighter.
Bivol lost to Beterbiev last Saturday night, and he should have to earn a rematch by going through David Benavidez rather than being given a second fight on a silver platter because Hearn is planning to appeal to the sanctioning bodies.
The Matchroom promoter Hearn is upset that Beterbiev defeated his fighter Bivol by a 12-round majority decision last Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. If Bivol had won, a massive money rematch between him and Canelo Alvarez was possible.
Beterbiev spoiled those plans by rallying to defeat Bivol, who had an extremely negative style throughout the entire fight, moving constantly, staying off the ropes, and making the fight nearly unwatchable for the fans who tuned in.
Hearn states that he’s going to appeal to one of the governing bodies, telling them that Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) deserved the victory and they should order a rematch. The other approach is to ask them to make Bivol mandatory for Beterbiev.
None of this is necessary if His Excellency Turki Alalshikh wants the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch and is willing to pay to stage the fight in Riyadh again. However, there’s a growing number of fans who don’t want to see a rematch because they feel that former WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol will be boring again.
More entertaining fighters are waiting in line to face Beterbiev, who will make it exciting to watch. We already know what we’re going to get with Hearn’s fighter, Bivol. There will be a lot of movement, and it will not be fun to watch.
“For me, I think we’ll see the rematch, and it was such a great fight that we should push for that rematch,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing, talking about a hoped-for second fight between his beaten fighter Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
“Sometimes, you make an appeal to the governing bodies and say, ‘Look, we believe we should have won that fight. We think you should have ordered a rematch.” There are two ways to do it. You can order a rematch, or you can order Dmitry Bivol as the mandatory. One of those things will happen, in my opinion,” said Hearn
Ideally, Bivol should have to fight the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell winner to get a rematch with Beterbiev rather than being given a straight shot after coming up short.
If there is going to be a rematch, Team Beterbiev should insist on a smaller ring to limit the amount of running that Bivol does because it’s going to entertaining to watch him run around a big ring for 12 rounds, playing keep away, trying to spoil his way to victory.
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