Will Artur Beterbiev Be Too Powerful For Dmitry Bivol?

Dmitry Bivol will face the biggest puncher of his career in his light heavyweight undis[ited championship fight against unified champ Artur Beterbiev in 19 days on October 12th in Riyadh. Beterbiev might have too much power for Bivol, who likes to throw combinations and leaves himself open. Getting countered by Beterbiev will be bad for Bivol.

WBA champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) is known for his movement and boxing skills, which he’s used to defeat the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Gilberto Ramirez. He’s not faced anyone like IBF, WBC and WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs), though.

Bivol hasn’t fought anyone like Beterbiev, and we don’t know if he’ll be able to use his in-and-out attacking style effectively against this kind of puncher.

Canelo, a natural middleweight in size, was too small to fight at light heavyweight against Bivol in 2022. Zurdo Ramirez was slow and limited in his fight against Bivol in November 2022. Bivol might not be as good as some fans had thought, and Beterbiev may expose that.

“When I think of what is a machine? It’s Beterbiev more than any other boxer in recent years,” said Ade Oladipo on his YouTube channel, talking about unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev ahead of his fight against Dmitry Bivol on October 12th.

“Some thought Callum Smith was going to go to Canada and take the titles from him. Beterbiev destroyed him. That’s when I thought this guy is the real deal. Then there’s Dmitry Bivol. I think he’s poetry in motion.

“You have someone [Beterbiev] that will break you down, and you have someone that is poetry in motion. Bivol doesn’t have that stand out resume of Beterbiev,” said Ade.

Beterbiev’s best wins:

– Oleksandr Gvozdyk
– Callum Smith
– Callum Johnson
– Marcus Browne
– Anthony Yarde
– Joe Smith Jr.

Bivol’s best victories include beating Joe Smith Jr., Canelo, and Gilberto Ramirez. His resume is similar to Beterbiev’s but not quite as good.

“Bivol shut Canelo down. You can’t sleep on that performance. This was a Canelo on the lead up to that fight was on a run.”

“At the time, I didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary, but obviously was. Looking back, he’s hitting me on the arms and knocking me all over,” said Callum Johnson to Secondsout about his fight against Artur Beterbiev in 2018.

“Will his age affect him? At some point, it will. Will the knee surgery affect him?” Johnson asked about Beterbiev.

The recent knee surgery that Beterbiev puts a question mark about whether he’ll be able to stand up to the stress of facing a mover like Bivol. Not just the movement. Bivol may choose to lean on Beterbiev during the clinches to wear down his knee and weaken him.

Does Bivol reign supreme on October 12? 👑#BeterbievBivol | #RiyadhSeason | Oct 12, live on DAZN | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/Q7tQgrDX4o

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 23, 2024