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By Dan Morley
WHILE I have been watching people break down this weekend’s super fight for undisputed light-heavyweight supremacy, I’ve noticed how most are going with the theme that Beterbiev is the aggressive puncher and Bivol the elusive boxer.
While that is true, not enough elaboration is going into how well-rounded both these men are, which makes this such a compelling fight. It’s worth noting that Beterbiev has been stopping top-calibre professional fighters for a decade now since he KO’d Tavoris Cloud back in 2014 and Dmitry Bivol has been a World Champion for seven years.
Whilst both of these men remained reasonably unknown to the masses until recent years, it’s easy to forget just how long they’ve remained at the pinnacle of world boxing.
On a stylistic side, let’s start with Artur being the puncher. Of course, that’s true; his fists are packed with dynamite, it takes just a brush to deck his opponents and turn the tide of a fight and I don’t feel as though anyone else in the sport today has heavier hands than Beterbiev. Yet he is the furthest thing from a puncher who relies solely on thudding power alone. Beterbiev is a phenomenal technician himself. His amateur record is 295-5, and he won major tournaments, including the World and European Championships, even beating the phenomenally skilled Oleksandr Usyk.
As he developed his style in line with the longer format of professional boxing, Beterbiev had honed a sound defensive front foot posture, spearheaded by a nearly impenetrable high guard. The only weakness I have found could be a slight lack of head movement, which perhaps has been the cause for the few knockdowns he’s suffered so far.
His jab is devastatingly hard and accurate and he has a brilliant ability to judge the distance as he closes the gap. The way he sets shots up whilst you’re under his calculated pressure is clinical to both body and head and he’s a really precise counterpuncher when he backs up, as we saw with the shot he caught Callum Smith with before closing in for the finish. I think his skills, IQ and technique are somewhat going under the radar, as similarly, I think Bivol’s physical strength and pop are too.
Likewise, Bivol is the master boxer of the fight. His jab, footwork, combination punches and distance control are his strengths and will more than likely serve as his main tools to a win. But he is a lot stronger than many are making him out to be, in my opinion.
He hasn’t got a huge KO percentage, but on his way to the top, Bivol was icing people in the first round with one-punch KOs; just look at the Trent Broadhurst fight. While he hasn’t stopped many people lately, he has them under complete control across the course of a fight, not only due to his boxing IQ but also that underrated strength.
Granted, he had a size advantage over Canelo, but no one has been able to keep Canelo as honest physically as Bivol. He’s solid and strong, but he usually uses this more methodically while sticking to a game plan to secure dominant victories. In his last outing, we saw his capabilities in finishing fights when he decided to press the action more intensely.
Bivol was too good for a confident Canelo. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Both these men are undeniably the best at what they excel at, and in doing this, they have beaten the best around with relative ease. But what makes this fight so brilliant is that they are both more than good enough in all departments to nullify the other’s superiority in certain areas. This is as hard a fight to call as any in recent memory, in my opinion, and with all of the belts on the line, it provides great intrigue.
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