Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol both weighed in narrowly under the light-heavyweight limit for Saturday’s undisputed title fight at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The leaner, narrowly taller Bivol, 33, was 174.12lbs. Beterbiev, 39 and whose ruptured meniscus forced the postponement of their sought-after contest from June 1, was 174.9lbs.
The Russians briefly stared at each other in a demonstration of their mutual respect, before departing the stage with the same composure with which they arrived.
“I’m always like this,” Bivol told DAZN at the ceremonial weigh-in. “I’m chilled, but I’m focused also. It means a lot, but at the same time I’m trying to forget about everything I went through. I say thank you for everything, for everyone, and now I just focus on Saturday.
“I just need to eat right, sleep, and be ready. I’m used to it. Since six years old I’ve been fighting.”
“Good, like usually,” Beterbiev responded when asked how he felt. “[My] favorite part is fighting. Like I said, we’ll see. I’m getting ready to fight.”
Their latest reluctance to express themselves led to Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn, long aligned with DAZN, again attempting to promote Saturday’s fight, and he said: “This is a generational, great fight. The best fight in the light-heavyweight division for decades.
“Two ice-cold competitors. This is an opportunity for Dmitry Bivol to achieve a lifelong dream.”
The full weigh-in results are as follows
Light heavyweight – 12 rounds
Artur Beterbiev (174.9lbs) vs Dmitry Bivol (174.12lbs)
Heavyweight – 12 rounds
Fabio Wardley (241.6lbs) vs Frazer Clarke (271.3lbs)
Cruiserweight – 12 rounds
Jai Opetaia (198.6lbs) vs Jack Massey (199.13bs)
Middleweight – 12 rounds
Chris Eubank Jnr (159.1bs) vs Kamil Szeremeta (159.1bs)
Featherweight – 10 two-minute rounds
Skye Nicolson (125.9lbs) vs Raven Chapman (125.9lbs)
Light heavyweight – 10 rounds
Ben Whittaker (174.9lbs) vs Liam Cameron (174.6lbs)
Super featherweight – four rounds
Mohammed Alakel (131bs) vs Jesus Gonzalez (131lbs)
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