Dmitry Bivol says he can be better in his rematch with undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on February 22nd. He knows what he did wrong last time in his 12-round majority decision defeat on October 12th, and he’s used this training camp not to repeat the same mistakes.
Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) says he wants to beat Artur (21-0, 20 KOs), close the chapter in their rivalry and move on. The two will be headlining in Riyadh on DAZN PPV in 38 days. This is probably Bivol’s last chance.
A Better Bivol?
If he loses this fight, Turki Al-Sheikh probably won’t set up a third one with Beterbiev. That would be a waste of time. Some fans feel this fight shouldn’t happen because Beterbiev won fair and square. Other fighters deserve a shot.
It’s difficult to know what Bivol, 34, can improve upon from the first fight because he fought perfectly and came close to winning. When the unified light heavyweight champion Beterbiev changed tactics in the second half of the contest and began walking Bivol down, he had no choice but to evade him.
He tried to hold his ground, but Beterbiev was too powerful and was chopping through his guard. The punches Bivol did land weren’t effective, and he was leaving himself open to being countered. Beterbiev could generate thudding power on his short shots in close that didn’t seem powerful, but they did damage to Bivol.
Promoter Eddie Hearn disagreed with the decision. He believed that his fighter, Bivol, had done enough to win, as did many fans. The scores were 115-113, 116-112 for Beterbiev, and 114-114.
“I thought I have to work on it and do it much better than I did before, and I have to improve myself,” said Dmitry Bivol to Queensberry Promotions about what went through his head after he lost to Artur Beterbiev last year in October 12th. “Of course, I had to make some changes with my training camp.
“Now, I know more about him because I’m happy I have this chance again, and I’m focused. I’m in the training mode and the fighting mode. I just believe I can be better. I know I could be better The part about my dream, it’s become a little bit smaller. Now, I want the rematch, I want to close the subject with this opponent. I want to [beat] him.
“This with to [beat] him is not less than becoming undisputed. It’s not about hurt him. It’s to fix what it was before. This part of my life, I want to fix it and do it better for me,” said Bivol.
