Super middleweight contender Lonnie Thompson predicts a fast knockout victory for unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev over WBA champ Dmitry Bivol on October 12th in their undisputed championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Lonnie has sparred with IBF, WBC, and WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) before and knows firsthand how powerful and talented he is. He feels that Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) is too small and weak to hold off Beterbiev in their headliner, live on DAZN PPV at the Kingdom Arena.
Bivol Overrated, Beterbiev Underrated
The fans and oddsmakers who have Bivol as their favorite aren’t familiar with Beterbiev. They are overrating Dmitry from his win over Canelo Alvarez two years ago, making more of that fight than they should.
Thompson was impressed by Beterbiev’s recent seventh-round knockout win over former WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith on January 13th in Quebec City. Beterbiev completely overwhelmed the big puncher Smith, who Thompson feels has the size to compete at cruiserweight.
“I’m excited for the fight. It’s going to be on. You know who I’m going to be rocking with Beterbiev. I don’t think it’s going to go past seven or eight,” said Lonnie Thompson to Pro Boxing Fans, picking Artur Beterbiev to defeat Dmitry Bivol on October 12th in their light heavyweight undisputed championship fight in Riyadh.
Lonnie feels that Bivol doesn’t move nearly well enough to keep Beterbiev from cutting off the ring on him and trapping him into exchanges, which he’s not designed for against this type of puncher. Lyndon Arthur hurt Bivol during their fight last December and fought cautiously in the second half of the fight.
Bivol Can’t Escape Pressure
“I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Somebody who is like Callum Smith, who is extremely big, who could really possibly fight at cruiserweight,” said Lonnie. “Artur got him out of there in seven [last January]. Bivol could really fight at super middleweight.”
Bivol would have been better off fighting at super middleweight all these years because he’d have made more money fighting Canelo, David Benavidez, and other top fighters at 168. If Bivol loses this fight badly to Beterbiev, as Lonnie predicts, moving to 168 might be an option for him to explore to save his career.
“In my opinion, he [Bivol] doesn’t move that well for more rounds than that, and Artur cuts off the ring extremely well, and just the beating on them on the shoulders and the hips, and I think Bivol is going to get stopped relatively fast,” said Lonnie.
Beterbiev fights exceptionally well on the inside and does well against fighters who throw combinations, which is Bivol’s specialty. If Bivol is going to throw jabs and move away, it won’t work well for him because, as Lonnie says, Beterbiev cuts off the ring well, and he will trap him in exchanges. With Beterbiev’s power, it doesn’t take long for him to knockout fighters, even when they run like Bivol will surely be doing.
“When you have that many amateur fights and you’re that good, layoffs mean nothing,” said Thompson when asked if Beterbiev’s layoff will affect him for the Bivol fight. “Just look at what he’s doing. First, they said, ‘Beterbiev is getting old.’ He fights at 39 years old and crushes Callum Smith.”
Beterbiev hasn’t been off for that long. He just fought last January, his second fight in 2024. The layoff isn’t the question. It’s whether Beterbiev’s recently injured knee is fully strong enough for him to fight hard for a full fight.
“‘Oh well, he’s getting better,’ but now it’s, ‘Maybe it’s the layoff now.’ The man is just good. Get over it. Listen he’s a freak of nature. His age don’t matter,” said Thompson said about Beterbiev. “He’s that good.”
