DAZN experts are overwhelmingly picking Dmitry Bivol to defeat Artur Beterbiev in 11 days from now on October 12th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The experts, Darren Barker, Ariel Helwani, Joseph Parker, and Ade Oladipo, like the skills of the younger fighter Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs), who is more mobile and quicker than the 39-year-old Beterbiev.
WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol, 33, is six years younger and is the favorite with the oddsmakers. He’s in top shape and has recent victories over Malik Zinad, Lyndon Arthur, Gilberto Ramirez, and Canelo Alvarez.
Beterbiev’s recent knee injury makes predicting his readiness for this fight difficult. Although he’s trained hard and is supposedly ready, no one knows if he’s 100%. He’s getting paid a lot of money for this fight, so it’s understandable why he would still go through with it even if he’s not at his best.
“I think everything is going to be on Bivol’s terms. He is so smart when he engages and when he lets the flurries go,” said Darren Barker to DAZN Boxing, picking Dmitry Bivol to defeat Artur Beterbiev. “Although some of the rounds will be close, I honestly think he’s going to win this comfortably. I do think it’ll be a unanimous decision.”
Barker likes what he sees in Bivol, who has a style similar to his old one. Bivol winning “comfortably” over Bererbiev is a bit of a stretch, though, because it’s not kind of an opponent for him to do that. Bivol didn’t win comfortably against Lyndon Arthur, and Beterbiev is levels above him in talent.
“I favor Bivol as well. I feel he’s more precise with his punches and better footwork. Beterbiev is very powerful, but he is getting old, coming into his 40s,” said Joseph Parker.
“He’s always looked old. It’s not like all of a sudden, he’s aged overnight,” said Barker about Beterbiev. “I like his [Bivol] feet. I think we’ve seen the best of Beterbiev, but I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Bivol.”
“I think he regained a lot of our trust and confidence in the way he looked in June,” said Ariel Helwani about Bivol’s last fight against fringe contender Malik Zinad. “At some point, he’s going to be thrown into the fire, and that’s the big question. What happens when this mountain of a man [Beterbiev] is coming at you with hard punches? How do you respond?”
You can’t count Zinad as proof that Bivol will be victorious against Beterbiev because he was a complete nobody who was picked out from near the bottom of the light heavyweight rankings for Dmitry to fight. It’s unclear why Zinad was chosen to fight Bivol, but it was a poor mismatch.
It would have been better if Bivol had fought Craig Richards in a rematch or Anthony Yarde because beating those guys would have shown whether he’s improved since his lackluster showing against Lyndon Arthur last December.
“He’s good at eluding those punches and outboxing the puncher, but that’s the big question going into this fight. ”
“If you look at what Beterbiev has done. Whether it be Marcus Browne, Joe Smith, Anthony Yarde, Callum Smith, he’s put a lot of bodies to sleep, good bodies,” said Ade Oladipo. “If you look at Bivol, Zurdo, yes. I’m still not quite sure about Zurdo. Canelo, obviously a good win in Las Vegas, but Beterbiev has had the better body of work.”
Beterbiev definitely has better wins on his resume than Bivol, who only has the Canelo victory that jumps out at one. Canelo shouldn’t have been fighting at light heavyweight against a fighter Bivol’s size.
A better gauge of who is going to win this fight should be determined by the age of the two fighters. Beterbiev’s age and his recent knee injury put him at a disadvantage in this fight against the healthy and younger Bivol.
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