Artur Beterbiev says he expects his rematch with Dmitry Bivol to be a very different fight when they meet in a rematch on February 22nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) will defend his undisputed light heavyweight championship for the first time after capturing the final belt he needed to gain that distinction against Bivol on October 12th in a 12-round majority decision.
Rematch Strategies
While Bivol says he should move more in the rematch than he did in the first fight, Beterbiev seems to be going in the other direction, hinting toward being more aggressive early on. Artur gave away many of the early rounds by not attacking Bivol.
Once Beterbiev did go on the attack, it was one-sided, with him chasing Bivol around the ring, nailing him with hard shots, and dealing with his constant holding. It was pretty obvious that Dmitry did not have the fight in him when he was under attack.
Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), his promoter Eddie Hearn, and fans still believe he deserved the win based on his technical skills, but the judges saw it differently. They scored it 115-112, 116-112 for Beterbiev, and 114-114.
“I think he’s right. We already know how each of us fights. We’ve seen each other,” said Artur Beterbiev to the media, reacting to being told that Kostya Tszyu said that he expects his rematch with Dmitry Bivol to be an entirely different type of fight. “I think, of course, it’ll be a different fight.
“Some things can be corrected and improved. Well, his [Bivol] punches are those of a boxer. I probably won’t move up there,” said Beterbiev about a fight between him and Oleksandr Usyk. “From a sporting perspective, I’d be interested in that fight because we boxed in the Olympics [2012] and the World Championships.
“It would be interesting to try as professionals. Not for money, although money is nice. But my interest in this fight would be purely sporting. Much more than monetary.
Early Aggression
There will not be much difference in the rematch other than Beterbiev attacking right away and Bivol moving in circles for three minutes of every round. Dmitry won’t try and fight because he was hurt when he tried to last time, and he doesn’t have the power or chin to brawl with Beterbiev. So, he’s going to try and win a decision by hitting & running.
“It’s surprising to me how he switches stances,” said Beterbiev about Terence Crawford. “It’s incredible that he’s not a southpaw but can switch both ways. He even said he does some exercises he’s seen from me,” said Beterbiev.
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