Roy Jones Jr. is siding with Dmitry Bivol to defeat Artur Beterbiev in their undisputed light heavyweight championship on October 12th on ESPN+ in Riyadh.
Jones Jr. feels that the youth and that WBA 175-lb champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) has never been knocked down in his career, suggests that he’ll defeat IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) in their 12-round clash at the Kingdom Arena.
Roy Jr. was impressed with Bivol’s dominance of pound-for-pound star Canelo Alvarez two years ago. Bivol beat Alvarez by a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision in Las Vegas on May 7, 2022.
Why Bivol Has Edge
- Age: Beterbiev is 39, considerably older than the 33-year-old Bivol, and not in his prime.
- Chin factor: As Jones Jr. points out, Beterbiev has been knocked down twice during his career: by Callum Johnson in 2018 and Jeff Page Jr. in 2014. Although Beterbiev came back quickly to knock out both fighters, he was still down.
- Better resume: Bivol has wins over Canelo Alvarez and Gilberto Ramirez, and Beterbiev has no victories that stack up to being as good.
“He was in with Canelo Alvarez, and he made him look like nothing. So, I’m not saying it’s 50-50. Beterbiev has to show me to bring it back to 50-50,” said Roy Jones Jr. to the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel, giving WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol the edge over IBF/WBC/WBO 175-lb champ Artur Beterbiev on October 12th.
Canelo as a Barometer
We didn’t see Beterbiev in with Canelo to compare how he would do against him. Using Canelo as a barometer to pick who wins the Beterbiev-Bivol fight would only make sense if both fighters had fought him instead of just one of them, Bivol.
There’s a good chance that if Beterbiev fought Canelo, he’d bludgeon him into a quick stoppage within six rounds. Canelo wouldn’t be able to keep Beterbiev off of him, and he would get worked over on the inside, which is usually where he’s at his strongest. Beterbiev is a better inside fighter than Canelo, far superior to Bivol, who has no inside game. Bivol holds on the inside rather than fighting.
“Bivol has the advantage 60-40. Beterbiev is a hell of a fighter and has awesome power. It’s a very dangerous game that Bivol has to play because Beterbiev is probably the best puncher in the history of that division,” said Roy Jr.
Jones Jr. is discussing whether Bivol can knock out or hurt Beterbiev. He feels that he has to fight aggressively for him to do that. Doing so would risk getting clipped by one of Beterbiev’s heavy shots, and Bivol doesn’t react well when he’s hurt.
Bivol’s Vulnerability
We saw that last December when Lyndon Arthur stunned Bivol with a big shot. Bivol looked like he’d been electrocuted with 2,200 volts.
If that had been Beterbiev inside the ring with Bivol, it would suffice to say that we wouldn’t see a fight on October 12th. Beterbiev would be the undisputed champion, while they would be in the consolation bracket against Joshua Buatsi or Wily Hutchinson.
“It’s a great fight. If it’s 50-50, it’s because of his punching power. Beterbiev is 38 years old [correction: Beterbiev has been 39 since last January], and he’s been down. Bivol has never been down,” said Roy.
Roy Jr. is correct that Bivol hasn’t been down, but these have hurt him fighters:
– Joe Smith Jr.
– Lyndon Arthur
– Craig Richards
– Jean Pascal
Bivol can be hurt and knocked down if he’s hit hard enough. If he had been hit with the shot that knocked Beterbiev down by Callum Johnson, a very big puncher, it would have resulted in the same thing happening to him.
