ARTHUR Beterbiev succeeded in winning the undisputed light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision victory over <a href="https://www.archyde.com/canelo-alvarez-will-challenge-the-russian-bivol-for-the-wba-world-championship/" title="'Canelo' Álvarez will challenge the Russian Bivol for the WBA world championship”>Dmitry Bivol, Saturday (12/10) local time, at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, or Sunday (13/10) morning western Indonesia time.
Beterbiev closed the match strong, winning by scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 114-114 in a very entertaining fight fought at the highest level of skill.
With victory in the long-awaited summit, Beterbiev became the first undisputed 175-pound light heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. Bivol enters the fight ranked No. 1 by ESPN in the light heavyweight class and No. 1 by ESPN in the light heavyweight class. 4 pound for pound. Beterbiev is at No. 2 in the division and No. 6 pound for pound.
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Beterbiev became the division’s first undisputed champion since 2002, and the first of all time in the four-belt era.
“Of course it’s a difficult fight because Dmitri is also a champion,” said Beterbiev. “He has good skills, maybe better than me. But today, Allah chose me,” he added.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) entered the fight as the only boxing champion with a 100% knockout ratio, a streak that ended Saturday with the biggest win of his illustrious career.
Beterbiev turned 40 in January and recently underwent knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus, a procedure that postponed the fight between the two rivals from June. However, he was still able to come back in the second round of the fight to establish himself as a Hall of Fame fighter.
Two undefeated champions with different but equally effective styles put on a showdown of the highest level in a fist fight that has true boxing fans buzzing.
Bivol was defeated for the first time in 24 fights. Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) controlled the action in the first round, especially early on when he unleashed an incredible jab and footwork to block his opponent’s powerful punches.
Bivol’s punches were sharper, and managed to fend off Beterbiev with a left hook on top of his vaunted powerful jab.
However, Beterbiev never stopped attacking. Even when his shots were blocked — and most of them were blocked — they still seemed to have an impact on Bivol’s high guard.
Bivol, 33, entered the fight with the advantage in big-fight experience following his best-of-the-match win over boxing’s top star, Canelo Alvarez, in May 2022. However, it was Beterbiev who swept the final three rounds with a unanimous decision to take the win.
“I did my job,” Bivol said. “I felt like I could have done better. … He was strong, very strong. “And you see my hand is bruised,” she said, holding her hand up to her eye. “He kept hitting her and it was very hard, even up to my eye. ”
Bivol emerged with his left eye badly bruised and swollen, and also with scars around his right eye.
“I realized I had to do everything perfectly and I didn’t have any explanations because it could look like an excuse,” Bivol said. “I (congratulate) Artur and his team. He deserves it.”
The potential for a rematch between the two Russian boxers has emerged. Bivol said he would certainly like another chance against Beterbiev: “Why not? … If I had that opportunity, yes. It’s my dream to be undisputed.”
However, it was Beterbiev who achieved his dream of collecting all four belts when he added Bivol’s WBA title to his IBF, WBC and WBO titles.
“I wanted to box today with better quality,” Beterbiev said. “I don’t know why, but I don’t like this fight. However, I will be better one day. … If His Majesty (Turki Alalshikh) wants (a rematch), we can do it.” (ESPN/BBC/B-3)
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