Author:
mikeg
Publish Date:
06/24/2022
Artur Beterbiev, Dmitry Bivol.
Champions who are talented and unbeaten.
Bivol is business-like.
Beterbiev relentless.
Both are undefeated.
Beterbiev, a light heavyweight world champion (IBF and WBC), traveled to New York to take on Joe Smith Jr, WBO holder, last weekend. Beterbiev was 8-1 in favor. Smith was confident and the crowd cheered him on.
Both were muted by Beterbiev. Smith came out aggressively as the Beterbiev team had expected. Smith was determined to surprise the slow-starting Beterbiev by delivering a game-changing punch. Beterbiev was impassive and dodged, parried, then moved. Smith was stunned when he unleashed a counter right.
Smith was wobbly when he got up, but he fell down again about a minute later with a confused expression. Smith made it through the round, and hoped for something better in the next stanza.
Beterbiev quickly ended all hope. Beterbiev trapped Smith on the ropes, and then unloaded him. Smith fell to the ground, pulled himself up and engaged. He ate a three-punch combination which stunned him like a man who'd had too many.
He had. Harvey Dock, the referee, waved off the fight.
Beterbiev fought like a cold-blooded, calculated assassin.
Bivol (20-0-1, 11 KOs), recently faced super middleweight champion Saul "Canelo Alvarez. Many predicted he would lose.
Many people were wrong.
Alvarez hadn't lost since 2013, so Bivol handled him like a boy fighting a man. Bivol used his height and angles to slap Alvarez. Alvarez refused to fight him when he was the former pound-for-pound king.
His performance was convincing and systematic.
Bivol and Beterbiev should fight next but not in boxing today. Anthony Yarde and Beterbiev will be fighting in London this fall. This one is not for sale.
Yarde's claim of fame is his tangling with Sergey Kovalev, an over-the-hill Sergey Kovalev, in 2019. He fought hard but was knocked out in round 11. He last fought in ring seven months ago. He knocked out Lyndon Arthur.
Artur had already won their first fight. Yarde won 22 of his 24 fights and scored 21 knockouts. Although his record is not impressive, Yarde likes the chance against Beterbiev.
Yarde, who witnessed Smith's death, said that Beterbiev is the "best light heavyweight in the world". "But even in this short fight, I saw many methods to beat him. Although he has serious power, he isn't as fast as I expected. You can find the best new betting sites on boxing.
He said, "The key to beating Beterbiev"
Joe Gallagher, the trainer, believes Yarde may try to box Beterbiev.
"Can he keep Artur Betterbiev at bay during 12 rounds?" Secondsout.com's Gallagher stated that "There will be a lot more leg movement."
Although Beterbiev may be wiser than Smith, Smith proved that he can still box.
We can now discuss Yarde's defeat by Beterbiev. It is the most interesting light heavyweight title match since Dwight Muhammad Quai and Michael Spinks in 1982.