The first fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol was quite close, both on the scorecards and with the statistics.
Beterbiev took the majority decision on October 12 in Riyadh, two judges seeing him ahead 116-112 and 115-113, while the third judge had it even at 114-114. Unofficial observers were split between those who agreed with Beterbiev taking the undisputed light heavyweight championship while others believed Bivol had done enough to win.
The final CompuBox stats for the evening had Bivol landing 142 punches and Beterbiev landing 137. In terms of power punches, Beterbiev was credited with landing 90 while Bivol scored with 84.
Bivol was more accurate while Beterbiv was more active.
Bivol connected with half of his power punches, going 84 of 168, and one-third of his total shots, 142 of 423.
Beterbiev was held to a 29.4 per cent connect rate with his power shots, going 90 of 306, and a 20.1 per cent connect rate overall, going 137 of 682.
Bivol was the first person to go the distance with Beterbiev. It is no surprise that Bivol, who is recognized for his boxing ability, rendered Beterbiev less effective than usual.
In his last 10 fights, from the time Beterbiev won the vacant IBF title against Enrico Koelling in 2017 through his first fight with Bivol, Beterbiev has gone an average of 18.2 of 60.5 total punches per round, a 30.1 percent connect rate. That includes 12.2 of 32.8 power shots per round, a 37.2 percent connect rate.
As for Bivol, in his 12 fights dating back to his 2018 win over Sullivan Barrera through the first fight with Beterbiev, Bivol has gone an average of 16.2 of 52.3 in total punches per round, a 31 percent connect rate. That includes 7.8 of 18.2 power shots, a 42.9 percent connect rate.
Also according to CompuBox:
Bivol landed 33 power punches over the first six rounds while Beterbiev landed 23. Beterbiev turned the tide over the last six rounds by landing 67 power punches to Bivol’s 51. In rounds 11 and 12, Beterbiev landed 29 power punches while Bivol landed 19. The two men were separated by four or less landed punches in eight of the 12 rounds fought.
Beterbiev’s opponents landed 23.2% of their total punches – but Bivol landed 34% in their first fight. Beterbiev’s opponents landed 32.2 per cent of their power punches, or 6.6 per round, while Bivol landed 50 per cent in their first fight, though only 7 per round.
Bivol’s opponents land an average of 6.5 punches per round (and with an 13.8 percent connect rate) and 4.3 power shots per round. Beterbiev landed about 11.4 punches per round, including 7.5 power shots (a 23.4 percent connect rate).
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