Dmitry Bivol could be heading towards career oblivion by going through with his promoter Eddie Hearn’s plans to steam straight into a rematch with Artur Beterbiev.
Hearn thinks Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) rightfully won last Saturday night in his loss to IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs). He doesn’t care that the three professional judges who worked the fight didn’t think Bivol did enough to win.
Bivol’s Career Will Be in the Mud
If Bivol is knocked out in the rematch with Beterbiev in 2025, his purses will likely drop from that point on. Hearn would have to put Bivol in a time-consuming, costly rebuild, and who knows how long that would take.
If Hearn chooses to take a drunken gambler’s approach to bringing Dmitry back from a second loss to Beterbiev, he could throw him in with Joshua Buatsi, David Morrell, or David Benavidez and hope that he can finesse his way to a decision victory by using his feet.
I don’t see it ending well for Bivol against any of those three because they’re excellent at cutting off the ring against runners, especially with ones that have a chin problem and cannot stand and fight. Bivol would crumble against those three, even now. Morrell, Buatsi, and Benavidez would be all over Bivol and wouldn’t show him the kind of respect that Beterbiev foolishly did.
Hearn feels he knows better than him, and he’s ready to gamble with Bivol by sending him into a rematch with undisputed 175-lb champion Beterbiev. That could end badly for Bivol, with him getting knocked out and greatly diminishing popularity.
It would be hard for Bivol to come back from a second defeat against Beterbiev because the chances are he’ll be knocked out next time. Beterbiev has figured out Bivol now, knowing he’s timid, has little power, and can’t handle being stormed in huge waves.
The mind of Bivol is strong, but the flesh is weak. He seemed very fragile each time Beterbiev would put it on him and chase him around the ring, nailing him with clubbing shots to the head and bread basket.
Bivol buckled every time Beterbiev attacked him relentlessly last Saturday night. He’s just lucky that Beterbiev didn’t storm the trenches from the get-go in round one because he would not have made it to the twelfth round under those conditions.
If he left well enough alone, they could claim a moral victory by going 12 rounds with the monster Beterbiev and making it a close affair. It’s not a win, but he can live with that. He can continue trumpeting how Bivol deserved a win over Beterbiev and use it as a promotional tool to create interest in his fights.
“Of course, he doesn’t think Artur won, but he’s not going to sit there when you’ve got me kicking and screaming?” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing, indicating that Dmitry Bivol doesn’t believe he really lost to Artur Beterbiev last Saturday.
I don’t think Bivol believes he really won. In looking at the way Bivol spoke after the fight, he knew he’d fallen apart during the second half of the contest, and was close to being knocked out by Beterbiev.
“He knows he won that fight, but he’s not prepared to complain and moan. One thing he said was, ‘I can be so much better.’ I felt he boxed unbelievably. It was a pound-for-pound great performance, but he felt he could do better. Hopefully, he can put that right in the rematch,” said Hearn about his hopes for Bivol.
Hearn can make the Beterbiev vs. Bivol rematch, but he’ll regret it in the end. Beterbiev is too powerful and won’t hesitate in the rematch to immediately tear into Bivol, raking him with power shots to make quick work of him.
Bivol’s career will be effectively over as a major player after a knockout loss to Beterbiev, and Hearn will have to figure out an exit strategy on how to salvage the remainder of his contract.
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