Andre Ward thinks Dmitry Bivol is making a mistake by openly revealing that Artur Beterbiev’s punches were affecting him, even when he blocked them on his gloves.
The former two-division world champion Ward feels that Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) should be tight-lipped about his weaknesses due to the potential of a rematch with undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) in 2025.
Bivol lost a 12-round majority decision to Beterbiev last Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. It was a close fight, but Beterbiev pulled it out in the second half of the contest with his pressure and power-punching.
Some fans felt that Bivol deserved the win, saying he outboxed Beterbiev and did an excellent job of blocking his punches or making him miss. Bivol was blocking shots, but the punches were still doing damage to his face.
Bivol Slowed Down
In the second half, Bivol lost energy and wasn’t showing much offense. It’s unclear what caused that. It could have been one of these factors:
– Body punching
– Fast pace
– Pressure
– Power
“You should never concede this openly when there is potential for a rematch. Keep that to yourself! Too much talking,” said Andre Ward on X, reacting to Dmitry Bivol revealing that Artur Beterbiev’s punches were coming through his gloves when he covered up.
It might not matter whether Bivol revealed what Beterbiev’s punches were doing to him, because it’s there to be seen in the video of the fight. Bivol could say nothing, and Beterbiev and his team will spot the affects his punches were having on him. It didn’t matter that Bivol was blocking many on his gloves. They were still doing damage. The body punching from Beterbiev seemed to have a real effect on Bivol, wearing him down.
“He has very strong punches. [I felt] his right hand even through my left. My thumb is swollen because I was holding it on my head, and he was beating on my hand. I felt like my hand came inside of my head from the power,” said Bivol to BoxNation, talking about Beterbiev.
“For the rematch, I think Bivol is going to look at the first fight and say, ‘I can be more aggressive,’ because when he was aggressive, he was carrying the day,” said trainer Stephen Edwards to MillCity Boxing about what Bivol will be thinking going into the rematch with Beterbiev.
Bivol will have to try and be more aggressive in the rematch because he’s not going to be given a decision if he’s just jabbing Beterbiev and trying to keep away. He had success in the seventh round when he flurried on Beterbiev, but he got caught with a shot.
That changed the fight because Bivol looked weakened and cautious to let his hands go again. But he’s going to have to try because he appeared to have Beterbiev close to being stopped.
“The problem is, if you get too aggressive, you run into something with that guy [Beterbiev] because he’s such a hard puncher,” said Edwards. “So, you can’t get too greedy. I think the seventh round was a microcosm of the fight. Bivol was having a real good round, he was getting off, and he got a little too greedy. Beterbiev hit him with something and dominated the rest of the round.
“I thought Beterbiev won the seventh round, but I could see that round was a point of controversy. I think Bivol will be more aggressive, but I think that’s what Beterbiev wants.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Beterbiev stops him in the rematch because the more you open up, the more chances you give him to hit you with something you don’t see,” said Edwards.
