Artur Beterbiev’s coach, Marc Ramsay, says he had Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) up 5-1 in the first six rounds before he tailed off in his 12-round majority decision defeat to Dmitry Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) in their rematch at The Venue in Riyadh.
Ramsay showed his class not to grumble about the decision, but it’s pretty clear that his fighter, Beterbiev, deserved a draw last Saturday night because he clearly won the twelfth round. He had Bivol looking hurt in that final round, forcing him to run.
Did Bivol Deserve It?
Rounds in which Beterbiev appeared to win were 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 12, which resulted in a draw. The judges working the fight scored it 115-113, 116-112 for Bivol, and 114-114 for Beterbiev. This writer had it 115-113 for Beterbiev.
You hate to see fighters given gift decisions like this in what some fans felt was to even the score after Beterbiev’s unpopular win last October over Bivol. However, Beterbiev deserved the win in that fight, and he rated at least a draw last Saturday if the judges had logically scored the fight. The first round was clear for Beterbiev, and he completely dominated Bivol from rounds three through six. They weren’t even close.
If Beterbiev is going to get similar treatment by the judges in the trilogy, he should forget about taking the fight and focus on fighting David Benavidez or Callum Smith. Those would be entertaining fights for the fans, and Beterbiev wouldn’t need to worry about being robbed again.
Clinching and Running
Bivol was just holding and moving the entire fight, especially in the second half of the contest. It was hard to give him many rounds before he stopped fighting and was in pure survival mode.
“We had two good rounds to start. He won round one for sure. Two was more close. Three, four, five, and six was all Beterbiev,” said trainer Marc Ramsay to Boxing News, reflecting on the rounds that he believed his fighter, Artur Beterbiev, deserved to win in the first half of his fight last Saturday night against Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh.
“At one point, I really believed he would stop him. I could see his reaction every time Artur would hit him. Artur slowed down after that, and Dmitry took back the lead after that,” said Ramsay.
