The bout was preceded by great anticipation, as both boxers had impeccable professional records before the confrontation.
39-year-old Artur Beterbiev has won all 20 of his bouts by knockout, which is why he is also referred to as the “KO King.”
While Dmitry Bivol, 33 years old, managed to achieve 23 victories without suffering a single loss before the match.
like National sports He wrote, The former as IBF, WBC and WBO world champion, and the latter as WBA and IBO world champion entered the fray to determine who was the undisputed light heavyweight champion. According to the newspaper, it is clear that Bivol started the match better, achieved clearer strikes, built his tactics better, and in the first three rounds, he apparently outperformed his Russian-Canadian opponent.
After that, Beterbiev switched to a more aggressive style than before, trying a lot of punches, constantly lining up Bivol. Most of the time he found only the gloves, and landed very few punches to the body, but his advantage was clear, so that after six rounds the two sides were almost even.
In the next three rounds, Beterbiev scored more goals, while Bivol scored a greater number of goals, both in terms of percentage and number, so the balance seemed to be tilting in his favor.
In the last three rounds, their tactics changed again.
Bivol put me off the pace, trying to avoid his opponent's punches, while Beterbiev hit a lot, giving everything. It was clear that he won the last three rounds, but it was not clear what the final result would be after that.
According to the “Nemzeti Sport” website, many immediately called for a draw, and one of the scoring judges saw it this way (114-114), but Beterbiev proved that he was better than the other two (with scores of 116-112 and 115-113). So he became the undisputed champion of the light heavyweight category. At the same time, the decision was met with controversy by some specialized writers.
You can watch a summary of the match here:
