Who will win the upcoming fight for the undisputed light heavyweight world championship between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol?
Coming up on October 12th, from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a battle for undisputed supremacy in the light heavyweight division, WBA champion Dmitry Bivol will square off against unified IBF/WBC/WBO and lineal world light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
This showdown between 2 undefeated champions was originally scheduled to happen back on June 1st. But the fight got postponed after Beterbiev suffered a ruptured meniscus in early May. Bivol found a replacement opponent and took on Malik Zinad on the very same day he was supposed to face Beterbiev, and Bivol beat Zinad by 6th round stoppage.
Beterbiev is a perfect 20-0 with all 20 wins impressively coming inside the distance. Bivol is a perfect 22-0 with 11 of those wins coming inside the distance. Those records reflect the two general views going into this one, that either Beterbiev stops him inside the distance, or Bivol outboxes Beterbiev over the 12 round duration. But a Beterbiev decision or a Bivol stoppage are possible as well, as is a draw in what most perceive as a true 50-50 pick’em fight.
This battle of undefeated light heavyweight champions is long overdo. Beterbiev won his first championship all the way back in November 2017, and Bivol got his major championship back in October 2019 when he was promoted from the minor regular WBA trinket to the so-called super belt. So by the time these two finally square off, it will have been 5 years since these two have both reigned as champions at 175.
The winner of this bout will produce the first undisputed world light heavyweight champion during the modern 4-belt era, and technically speaking, it will produce the first undisputed world light heavyweight champion since Roy Jones Jr last held all the major belts back in 2002. But in reality, it’s actually the first undisputed world light heavyweight champion since Michael Spinks last held that distinction all the way back in 1985. The distinction here being that, in addition to holding every major belt of his day, Spinks also held a valid claim to the lineal championship. Roy didn’t, as he never faced or beat the lineal light heavyweight champion Dariusz Michalzcewski. And the Michaczewski lineage is the one that followed down the line to Beterbiev today.
The Beterbiev v Bivol main event will be broadcast live on DAZN Pay-Per-View worldwide (excluding USA and Canada where only the main event will be on ESPN+)
The whole undercard will be broadcast on DAZN worldwide.
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So who will win the fight for undisputed light heavyweight supremacy between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol?
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will attempt to answer that question while providing a quick preview for the upcoming showdown between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Please watch and enjoy the video for one man’s opinion. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani).
