Dmitry Bivol’s team has reportedly filed a protest to the four sanctioning bodies [IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO] to have an immediate rematch ordered against undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
This pointless move on Bivol’s team’s part because His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has already said he wants to make the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch. Beterbiev says he’s open to a second fight. It’s up to Turki if he wants to do the fight.
If he wants Beterbiev to fight someone else next, like Canelo Alvarez or David Benavidez, that’s what will happen. Team Bivol filing a protest won’t affect what happens next.
Turki will decide. U.S. fans wouldn’t complain if Beterbiev faces Canelo or Benavidez next. Those would be far more entertaining fights for the boxing public than watching Bivol run laps around the ring for 12 tedious rounds with Beterbiev chasing him all night.
According to Jake Donovan, Bivol’s team’s appeal is based on their belief that “most viewers” thought Bivol won the fight against Beterbiev last Saturday night in Riyadh. Team Bivol also has requested to review judge Pawel Kardyni’s 116-112 scorecard.
It seems like a waste of time. Even if the score was narrowed to 115-113, Bivol still lost the fight. There’s no gain on Team Bivol’s part by having it a slightly narrower defeat.
It’s unclear where Team Bivol gets the information to prove that the “majority of viewers” had Bivol winning. That seems like guesswork than anything. How in the world do you prove that the majority of the viewers had Bivol winning?
The judges scored the fight for IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) by a 12-round majority decision with scores 114-114, 115-113, and 116-112. Bivol was ineffective after the sixth round, mostly moving around the ring after being hurt in the seventh.
Beterbiev stalked Bivol around the ring during the second half of the contest, tagging him with heavy shots whenever he could catch up to him. Bivol was almost running in the last six rounds, and he looked tired and mentally defeated during that portion of the fight.
Bivol looked like he mentally checked out of the fight after the seventh round, and the remaining five rounds saw him in 100% survival mode. He was just trying not to get knocked out, and it wasn’t entertaining for the average fan.
He’d fought well during the first five rounds when Beterbiev was tentative about attacking him, but after the fifth, it was all downhill for Bivol. Promoter Eddie Hearn spoke after the fight, saying that Bivol had won either four of the first five or all five in his view. He had Bivol winning 8-4, which didn’t fit the fight that transpired.
“Told that Dmitry Bivol’s team has filed a protest with all four sanctioning bodies seeking an immediate rematch with Artur Beterbiev. The basis for appeal is the belief that the majority of viewers had Bivol winning. Complaint draws parallels to Lewis-Holyfield I,” said boxing insider Jake Donovan on X.
It makes Bivol’s team look like sour losers because they do need to do this for a rematch to happen with Beterbiev. A second fight will happen, but it’s up to Turki whether he wants it next or after Beterbiev fights someone more popular. There are several fighters that fans worldwide would prefer to see Beterbeiv fight next over a boring rematch with Bivol.
Options for Beterbiev
- Canelo Alvarez
- David Benavidez
- David Morrell
- Joshua Buatsi
“There are people who think Beterbiev won the fight, but most feel that Bivol won it,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing about his belief that most fans think Bivol won the fight against Beterbiev last Saturday. “He may want to put it right in everybody’s mind, but we’ll see what kicks up in the next couple of weeks and speak to His Excellency and see how that fight might fit into Riyadh Season’s schedule and go from there.
What should happen is that Bivol has to earn the rematch against Beterbiev instead of having it given to him on a silver platter by defeating Morrell, Benavidez, or Buatsi. If Bivol can beat one or two of those fighters, he deserves a rematch. I don’t think Bivol has the chin, offensive firepower, or mental toughness to defeat any of them. Buatsi would knock out Bivol.
