Lionel ‘Lonnie B’ Thompson is siding with Artur Beterbiev to defeat the gunshy Dmitry Bivol on Saturday night, October 12th, in their undisputed light heavyweight championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Thompson says WBA champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) lacks the “Killer instinct,” that spark that a fighter must have to have any chance of defeating IBF, WBC and WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs).
Indeed, Thompson feels that Beterbiev’s last opponent, Callum Smith, was a tougher opponent for him than what Bivol will be due to his size and punching power.
Smith landed some tremendous shots on Beterbiev during that fight that would have stopped most fighters in the 175-lb division, but he took them and beat up the British fighter to score a seventh-round knockout last January in Quebec City, Canada.
Bivol probably won’t fight as aggressively as Smith because he’s more of a pure boxer who shies away from getting hit in his fights. That’s why Bivol couldn’t make a dent in the much smaller Canelo Alvarez when he moved up from 168 to challenge him for his WBA 175-lb title in May 2022.
“Callum Smith is a tougher opponent than Bivol because he can punch; he’s rangy. I say that because fighting guys that are tall and rangy are hard to fight because they can hurt you coming in,” said Lionell Thompson to Fighthype about him being that Artur Beterbiev’s last opponent, Callum Smith, was a tougher opponent for him than what Dmitry Bivol will be this Saturday night.
Callum Smith came to fight against Beterbiev last January, and made the contest entertaining to watch for the first five rounds before it became a route. Bivol would never fight as aggressively against Beterbiev or anyone in the way that Smith did because that’s not how his mind works. Bivol focuses on landing, and getting away unscathed. He’s not going to change that approach for this fight against the dangerous puncher Beterbiev.
“It’s easier for them to hurt you than you can hurt them because you got to punch up while they’re punching down while they’re stepping back,” said Thompson. “They can step back and hit you hard from a longer range. You got to take more chances.
“Canelo shouldn’t have even been fighting Canelo, period, but he did. You saw the size difference. My thing is this: Bivol doesn’t have the killer instinct. Canelo didn’t have a busted lip. Everyone is talking like he dogged Canelo.
“You wouldn’t even think Canelo fought a light heavyweight that night. So, if you’re trying not to get robbed, knock him out. That showed me that Bivol don’t got it. He don’t got that extra [stuff to knock out an opponent]. He played it safe because he was worried about getting caught by a 160-pounder,” Thompson said about Bivol fighting scared. He’s supposed to be this monster. ‘You’re going to have such a hard time,’” said Lonnie B about Bivol.
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