Dmitry Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, denies that he was ever hurt in his loss to unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in their previous fight on October 12th. Earlier today, Beterbiev said Bivol was “lucky” not to be knocked out in that fight, and he’ll be coming in more aggressively in the rematch on February 22nd on ‘The Last Crescendo’ card in Riyadh.
Bivol’s “Comfortable Night”?
Hearn says Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) had a “comfortable night.” It didn’t look that way. There was a real fear for Bivol, and the judges saw what everyone did. Bivol had no will to fight, and Hearn backed a losing horse.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) dominated from the sixth and won a 12-round majority decision to become the undisputed champion at 175. Bivol will get a second chance next month, but if he can’t do it this time, he will have to go the back of the line, which is where he should be now. Turki Al-Sheikh threw a bone to Bivol by letting him get a rematch.
“I don’t think he was ever hurt in the fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Fight Hub TV, reacting to being told that Artur Beterbiev said today that Dmitry Bivol was “lucky” not to have been knocked out in their previous fight on October 12th.
“Obviously, he [Beterbiev] has big power, and he landed particularly in the late stages of the fight. I felt, for the most part, that Dmitry Bivol outboxed him. I think Beterbiev won the championship rounds, and that made it a lot closer. I thought it was a comfortable night for Dmitry Bivol.
“I think this time, he’ll [Beterbiev] will start faster, but I expect our man [Bivol] to get the job done. That’s a great fight Benavidez against Morrell, and I expect Benavidez to come through. He’s a great fighter,” said Hearn.
Bivol On The Run
Bivol was definitely hurt in the seventh round when he got caught in an exchange with Beterbiev. That’s why he was on his bike from that point on. Beterbiev was like a shark that smelled blood in the water, and he no longer respected the weak pitty-pat shots that Bivol was throwing. It was full steam ahead for Beterbiev, and I suspect that’s how he’s going to be from round one in the rematch.
“He wants to be in the big fights, and obviously, the winner of this fight [Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2] is going to be undisputed,” said Hearn. “How long will that last? There’s going to be a lot of mandatorys coming in. Sometimes you see the belts disintegrate, but the winner of this fight will be the man of the light heavyweight division,” said Hearn about the rematch between Beterbiev and Bivol.
