Dmitry Bivol says he’s got the speed, power, and mobility to defeat IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on October 12th in their undisputed championship in Riyadh.
Hopefully, Bivol comes to fight because the skittish way that he looked against Lyndon Arthur last December in a Riyadh show will be boring for fans.
Bivol will need to devise a strategy to prevent Beterbiev from steamrolling him on October 12th because he doesn’t hit hard enough to deter the powerful knockout artist.
If it goes to points, the judges must decide whether to give Bivol the win based on his amateur fencing style or score the match as a professional fight based on Beterbiev’s aggression, power, and cleaner landing shots.
WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) is still the favorite to win, but many fans are starting to lean toward Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) being victorious based on his power advantage.
“I have everything to be undisputed. Many people have good skills to be. You need to work, and you have to believe always in it,” said Dmitry Bivol to Boxing News about his upcoming undisputed light heavyweight championship fight against Artur Beterbiev on October 12th.
This is by far the best fighter that Bivol, 33, has fought during his ten-year professional career, and it is impossible to predict how he’ll do. The best guys Bivol has fought thus far are these fighters: Joe Smith Jr., Canelo Alvarez, Lyndon Arthur, and Craig Richards.
Bivol did not look good against Richards or Arthur. You can’t count the fight against Canelo because of Bivol’s huge advantage over the 5’8″ Mexican star, who looked too small to compete with a light heavyweight.
“I’m a fighter that that’s enough power, enough speed, enough movement, boxing technique, and IQ [to defeat Beterbiev]. I can sometimes use my speed and my movement. Of course, I’m expecting all scenarios. He can go. He could move forward so fast in the beginning. He can move also back and counter-punch. He has a lot of good skills, and he can use it against me,” Bivol said.
Power-wise, Bivol doesn’t hit hard enough to defeat Beterbiev, and he’s going to have a lot of trouble keeping him off without resorting to running all over the ring. I see the fight ending up as a cat & mouse type of fight with Bivol on the run of 12 rounds.
👑 @bivol_d on what makes him confident of toppling Artur Beterbiev and becoming 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 champion.
Full interview: https://t.co/HPkyb3YEQh#BeterbievBivol pic.twitter.com/EvRoURnV5Y
— Boxing News+ (@BoxingNewsPlus) September 25, 2024
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