Will Beterbiev’s Lack Of Big-Stage Experience Affect Him Against Bivol?

Artur Beterbiev comes into this Saturday’s fight against Dmitry Bivol without ever having fought in a big-stage mega-fight during his 11-year pro career. Bivol has a big advantage over Beterbiev, having fought the Face of Boxing, Canelo Alvarez, in May 2022 in Las Vegas in front of a large crowd at the T-Mobile Arena.

(Credit: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry Promotion)

IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) has fought in two Olympics but never won a gold medal. However, he’s accustomed to high pressure from the competition he faced in those games and the 300+ amateur fights he had.

Beterbiev’s Biggest Fights

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

Bivol’s fight against Canelo was against a smaller fighter coming up from the 168-lb division, and he wasn’t a natural light heavyweight like Beterbiev. However, it still counts that Bivol outboxed the highly skilled Canelo, who came into the contest with only one career defeat against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Beterbiev and WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) will meet on Saturday, October 12th, for the undisputed championship at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their fight will be shown live on ESPN+ and is expected to start at 6:00 p.m. ET.

“The difference here is for that Canelo fight, Bivol was the underdog. Everybody thought Canelo was going to up there and snag another belt like he did against Kovalev at 175 pounds,” said Bernardo Osuna to the State of Boxing on X. “This time, he [Canelo] fought a guy [Bivol] at his natural weight who could box.

“So, how much credit do you give to Bivol for that victory over Canelo in terms of that was a career-defining win and how much does that carry into the ring on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia?”

“I think that might be a big edge for Bivol in this fight. That was a huge win,” said Mike Coppinger. “Nobody gave Bivol a shot. I picked Canelo as well. Canelo was like a 4 to 1 in that fight. Like you said, we thought Canelo was going to go up and get another belt. We knew that Bivol was really good, but he hadn’t faced anybody of note.

“As far as the scorecards. They were all 7-5 for Bivol. I thought it was more of a 10-2, 9-3 fight. He was carving up Canelo and putting him on the ropes, and even when Canelo had Bivol on the ropes, he was making him miss and pay. It was one of the most impressive performances in the past 10 to 15 years,” said Coppinger.

Canelo looked tired after the third round against Bivol, and he had nothing to keep him off after he gassed out. He didn’t perform badly in the first two rounds, but by the third, Canelo had nothing left and was getting rifled with shots by the better-conditioned Bivol. It’s unlikely that Beterbiev will fade in this fight the way Canelo did, and he’s got the size to match Bivol. The power and the short punching from Beterbiev place him ahead of Bivol.

“We’re talking about a guy in Canelo Alvarez who had only lost to Floyd Mayweather. That’s his only other loss. So, we may see a rematch at some point, but that was a really hostile atmosphere. Everybody was rooting for Canelo. It was Cinco de Mayo weekend, and Bivol really rose to the occasion. Beterbiev has not fought at that stage, and he’s going to on Saturday,” said Coppinger.

Beterbiev’s lack of big-stage experience won’t affect him as it would another fighter who didn’t have the benefit of a long amateur career, two Olympics, and an unbeaten record. He’s never tasted defeat and marched through his 20-fight career, knocking out everyone he’s faced.