IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) came on late to defeat WBA champion Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) by a 12-round majority decision on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Bivol’s body language looked bad from rounds 9 through 12 because he was being out-punched and dominated.
The scores were:
– 114-114
– 115-113 – Beterbiev
– 116-112 – Beterbiev
Bivol fought well in the first six rounds, getting the better of Beterbiev with his jab and speedy combinations. Beterbiev came on strong beginning in the ninth, chasing Bivol down, pummeling him with thudding shots, and not letting him clinch to escape. You could hear the thudding shots from Beterbiev as they landed.
In rounds 9, 10, 11 and 12, Beterbiev wore Bivol down, dominating him with pressure.
– Heavyweight contender Fabio Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) made easy work of Frazer Clarke (8-1-1, 6 KOs), knocking him out in the first round of a scheduled 12-round fight in their rematch in the chief support.
Wardley stunned Clarke with a big right hand early in the first round. The shot spun Clarke around, causing him to fall against the ropes.
It briefly looked like Clarke had recovered from the shot, but Wardley once again stunned him with a right to the head.
Wardley then landed two wide hooks and then a right hand that dropped Clarke. The referee then stopped the fight at 2:28 of the first. After the contest, Wardley mentioned wanting to fight for a world title next.
– IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) destroyed an overmatched Jack Massey (22-3, 12 KOs), stopping him in the sixth round. Massey’s corner had the fight stopped during the sixth round because their fighter was taking a beating.
Opetaia, 29, was hitting Massey at will with shots. Massey wasn’t letting his hands go and was spending a lot of time against the ropes. In the sixth, Massey’s trainer, Joe Gallagher, threw in the towel because his fighter had taken too much punishment. His nose was busted, his eye cut, and blood was leaking from his mouth.
Opetaia needs to fight better opposition than this. Selecting fringe contenders like Massey isn’t fair and won’t do much for Opetaia’s career. If he wants to get the attention of fans, he needs to fight better opposition. The winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight would be excellent or one of the other cruiserweight champions.
– Middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 KOs) knocked out veteran Kamil Szeremeta (25-3-2, 8 KOs) in the seventh round to win the IBO title in a showcase-level fight. Coming off a year layoff, the career underachiever Eubank Jr. dropped Szeremeta four times in the fight, knocking him down in rounds 1, 6, and two times in round 8.
The referee stepped in and stopped the fight in the eighth after Szeremeta, 35, was knocked down for the second time by a body shot.
After the fight, Conor Benn climbed into the ring to call out Eubank Jr. It was already understood before the contest that Benn would be allowed into the ring to begin promoting a celebrity-level fight in London. Both guys are sons of famous British fighters, and neither has done much in the pros. It’s almost YouTuber-esque.
The way Eubank Jr. looked tonight, he’d stand no chance against any of the champions at middleweight. If this had been WBC champion Carlos Adames, WBA champ Erislandy Lara or IBF and WBO champ Janibek Alimkhanuly, he’d have been beaten. Eubank Jr. isn’t cut out for fighting for belts; hence, he’s still fighting the likes of Szeremeta and Conor Benn.
-WBC female featherweight champion Skye Nicolson (12-1, 1 KOs) easily outboxed Raven Chapman (9-1, 2 KOs), winning a lopsided ten-round unanimous decision.
Nicolson, 29, caught Chapman repeatedly with their left hand as she would come forward in every round and then move away immediately to prevent getting hit. It was the art of hitting and not getting hit by Nicolson the entire fight.
There wasn’t much two-way action due to Nicolson’s movement, but Chapman occasionally landed a good shot. The scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92. For fans that like to see pure boxing, Nicolson’s performance was entertaining, but not for people that like to see action. All the movement she does makes it boring to watch her.
It will take someone with outstanding power and good at cutting off the ring to defeat Nicolson because she’s excellent at moving. However, Nicolson has very little power, eventually costing her against a slugger.
– Light heavyweight Ben Whittaker (8-0-1, 5 KOs) and Liam Cameron (23-6-1, 10 KOs) had their fight end in the fifth round after the two fell out of the ring. Whittaker suffered a right leg injury from the fall, resulting in the fight going to the cards. The scores were 58-57 for Whittaker, 58-57 for Cameron, and 58-58.
Cameron landed the harder shots, making Whittaker look uneasy in rounds three through five. The pressure from the 33-year-old Cameron was getting to the 2020 Olympic silver medalist Whittaker.
By the fifth round, Whittaker looked like he was mentally falling apart. He landed repeated low blows and was warned by the referee. Cameron landed several hard shots, backing Whittaker up against the ropes; however, Whittaker grabbed Cameron and leaned over the rope, causing them both to fall out of the ring.
During the fall, Whittaker suffered a right leg injury and needed to be taken away in a wheelchair. The replays failed to show how Whittaker’s right leg was injured. The timing of the injury made some fans feel suspicious because Whittaker was getting worked over by the heavy-handed Cameron.
– Super featherweight Mohammed Alakel (1-0) outboxed Jesus Gonzalez (3-3), winning a four-round unanimous decision in his pro debut. Alakel kept the action on the outside, taking advantage of his long reach to nail the shorter Gonzalez with jabs and long right hands. The scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 40-36.
