Dmitry Bivol says he wants “revenge” in his rematch with Artur Betebiev more than his four light heavyweight belts in their second fight on February 22nd in Riyadh. Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) says he doesn’t like hearing himself being called an “ex-world champion.”
He wants to throw more punches against Beterbeiv (21-0, 20 KOs) because he realizes that was one area where he failed in their previous contest on October 12th. After a fast start in the first half, Bivol, 34, was on his bike throughout the second half, moving and holding constantly.
The referee allowed Bivol to hold Beterbiev each time he would get near, and the judges obviously saw that he was just spoiling to survive. It may not be possible for Bivol to fight better than he did last time without getting knocked out because his movement & clinching kept him from being Beterbiev’s 21st knockout victim.
Revenge on Bivol’s Mind
Bivol is 100% a finesse-level fighter, and he’s not built to stand and trade against anyone with power. Even against the much smaller Canelo Alvarez, Bivol fought defensively and only let his hands go once in the fight with sustained combinations.
“What wasn’t good was I didn’t throw a lot of punches. What was good were the moments that I punched him,” said Dmitry Bivol to Fight Hub TV, talking about the positives and negatives from his loss to Artur Beterbeiv on October 12th.
“I have to be better in all positions. Everything I have to do better. I have to be a better Dmitry Bivol than I was yesterday,” said Bivol about what he must do to defeat Beterbeiv in the rematch on February 22nd.
“Now, I don’t want just the belt. There is something more inside of me. I want revenge. I want to be the winner. I want to [beat] him. I lost, and I don’t like it. I want to win. I want to prove to myself that I could [beat] him.
“I want to get it back. It’s not only about belts. Of course, I don’t like to hear, ‘The former world champion’ or ‘ex-world champion’ or I have one loss. I don’t like it,” said Bivol.
