David Benavidez has tipped Dmitry Bivol to beat Artur Beterbiev in their light heavyweight title rematch, which is slated to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 22.
Russia’s Bivol, 34, will be looking to avenge his only career defeat when he renews acquaintances with Beterbiev, 39, having lost via a controversial majority decision in October. Benavidez, meanwhile, will not only watch their rematch with keen interest, but feels Bivol did enough to win the first meeting.
“To be honest with you, I felt Bivol won. I think Beterbiev had some good fights, but I honestly felt Bivol won by one or two rounds,” Benavidez told BoxingScene. “I think if they score it correctly, like how this AI judge did pretty good this past week, I think Bivol wins again.
“If you’ve just seen the first fight, Bivol was using his footwork really well. I think he was throwing more eye-catching combinations and I feel like because of that, he won.”
In October, judges scored the bout 115-113, 116-112, and 114-114 in favor of Beterbiev – a decision which led to Bivol venting his frustrations and asking for a rematch.
On February 22, Bivol, 23-1 (12 KOs), will have the opportunity to right his wrong against Beterbiev, 21-0 (20 KOs), with Benavidez, of Phoenix, Arizona, looking to face the winner.
However, with different promotional entities involved, it could be difficult to make the fight between the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol and Benavidez – should, of course, he beat David Morrell.
“I think it is realistic because we’re already talking to Turki Alalshikh,” said Benavidez when asked about the realistic nature of the fight. “So, obviously, I’m with PBC, so they would have to go to them. But I mean, it’s just a fight that makes sense for everybody.
“I think Turki Alalshikh is pretty good at going in there and making the fights happen. There’s going to be a lot of money for everybody when this fight happens so I think there’s something we could do. It’d probably be easier to make it happen because I think the promotional companies are probably going to be willing to work together for this one.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected]
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