Welsh icon Joe Calzaghe, a former two-weight world champion, believes Artur Beterbiev and Dmitriy Bivol will pick up from where they left off last October.
The two leading light heavyweights fight again over the undisputed light heavyweight title on Saturday, with Beterbiev defending the crown he won in a tight contest last October. Bivol pushed him all the way, and many felt he was hard done by on the scorecards, Calzaghe being one.
Calzaghe himself retired as a light heavyweight champion, with victories over Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jnr, having previously dominated at super middleweight.
Calzaghe, now 52 and still living in Wales, retired with a record of 46-0 (32 KOs).
“I’m looking forward to it. It’s a great match,” the Hall of Famer told BoxingScene. “The first fight was pretty close. I thought maybe Bivol edged it but I think it can go either way. Beterbiev was pressing and took over more in the second half of the fight toward the end. A lot of it is whether Bivol can keep the workrate up. I think, personally, he started off really good, he was good on his feet, used the jab well, was busy with his jab and he was winning the fight early, but obviously he started to tire late on.”
Beterbiev and Bivol meet again in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the crowning main event on a huge bill entitled Last Crescendo, and Calzaghe can see familiar patterns unfolding as the fight gets underway.
“I think it will be a quite similar fight,” he added. “For their ages, Beterbiev is 40, is obviously powerful and his style is his style, he hits hard, whether he can change anymore, I think it’s more likely Bivol can win it if he can keep the workrate up. I think it will be quite similar to the first fight. Whether Beterbiev is a bit more aggressive early on, if I was him, I would try to be a bit more aggressive early on because in the first fight it seemed like he finished stronger and Bivol got slightly tired, whether he [Bivol] got hurt I’m not sure, but he was letting him tee off, holding his hands up, he was on the ropes a little bit too much for my liking. Whether Bivol can keep busy, keep that jab going, keep throwing combinations, I know it’s easier said than done, it’s hard to do that for 12 rounds, but that’s what he needs to do. The first fight was really good, high quality without being too exciting, it wasn’t a really exciting fight but it was two great boxing brains and a high-class fight, so I expect the same. I think it will be a pretty close fight again.”
Calzaghe fought a variety of styles and rounded his career off against Mikkel Kessler, Hopkins and Jones. Asked which fighter of Saturday’s main event would have been the better fight for him, he replied: “That’s an interesting question, I hadn’t thought about it. I think Beterbiev is more dangerous because he’s a big puncher but I would think Beterbiev would be the one, but he’s a big puncher, strong – obviously – and he hits really hard, but he’s more flat-footed, looks for single punches so that sort of style used to suit me what with my fast combination punching, and I had that workrate for 12 rounds. I’d have to be busy, obviously, keep that focus for 12 rounds because he’s dangerous all the way through the fight.”
Also at light heavyweight, London’s Joshua Buatsi meets Liverpool’s Callum Smith on the bill. Smith, like Calzaghe, ruled at 168, but he was stopped by Beterbiev in his first bid for gold at 175. Buatsi has yet to fight for a world title, but the winner will be on the brink of a championship contest.
“There are some question marks around Callum Smith. He’s obviously been a good fighter, he’s tall, rangy and he’s had a couple of losses [to Canelo and Beterbiev], Buatsi could be on his way up but if Smith regains his old form, I think it’s a close fight,” said Calzaghe. “I’m not sure with Buatsi. I think the jury’s still out. I’m not convinced with him to be honest. He’s a prospect but I’m not sure he’s got the skillsets to go up those levels, to that elite level.”
Smith, however, has endured spells of inactivity, Calzaghe noted. “But he’s a good fighter and it’s a good fight,” added the Welshman. “I’m interested to see that one as well.”
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