Bernstein On Boxing: Beterbiev vs. Bivol

My mission in this column is to examine the Dimitry Bivol-Artur Beterbiev fight with an eye toward its historical importance. The simple way to begin and end the historical significance discussion would be to say this is the one and only time in the four-belt era that we have a fight for the undisputed light heavyweight title.  

So, that’s that. Right? Well, I probably owe the editors Ring Magazine and more importantly all of you maybe a little more nuance than that.

I am actually going to look at this megamatch from three angles:

1. How does the past look in terms of title-unifying matches in this division?

2. Titles aside, how does this match feel compared to some others in terms of significance and importance to the current boxing landscape? 

And 3. Just how good a boxing match is this when we consider its place among other great ones? 

Those are my self-imposed marching orders and off we go on our journey.

The four-belt era – where you need the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO belts to be considered undisputed champion – started in 2007 and as stated, this match will be the unicorn so far in that. Period. The three belt era (WBC, WBA and IBF) went from 1983 to 2007 and two fighters held undisputed titles – Roy Jones Jr. and Michael Spinks. 

In the two-belt era from 1963 to 1983 (WBC and WBA) six boxers were undisputed champs. This superb group was Harold Johnson, Willie Pastrano, Jose Torres, Dick Tiger, Bob Foster and Spinks. All the undisputed champs of these three eras are members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. It is not unreasonable to think that the winner of Bivol-Beterbiev greatly enhances his chances of being enshrined in Canastota (though both men are likely to end up enshrined there).

While all these men were undisputed champs, few engaged in unifying matches of significance as we will see with Bivol and Beterbiev. There are really only two total unification matches for all these men that are comparable. (Now, don’t jump on social media and start posting hateful things at me – I am NOT suggesting that these men and other champions did not have GREAT and meaningful flights that are comparable to the current match. I am only saying in terms of unification matches, the number of good comparisons to this one are limited.) 

The first one that begs comparison involved the all-time great Bob Foster taking on Vincente Rondon in 1972. Foster had held both the WBC and WBA titles from 1968 to 1970 and defended them four times. Prior to defending against Hal Carroll, the WBA stripped him of his title, which caused a public feud between Foster and the sanctioning body. Rondon then won the vacant WBA title and defended it four times. With Foster and the boxing public demanding it, a unification match was set for April of 1972 between Foster and Rondon. 

Bob Foster finishes Vicente Rondon with a right after staggering his rival beltholder with a left in the second round of their light heavyweight unification championship. Photo: Bettmann Collection / Getty Images

The bad blood leading up to this fight continued at the weigh in when Rondon’s weight was announced at 177, two pounds above the limit, but then boxing officials in Miami ignored that and carried on as if he had made weight. Foster and his team were then even more angry. On fight night Rondon was actually announced as 175 pounds. To many observers Rondon, who had been boldly confident in the build up for the fight, looked timid and intimidated as he entered the ring. Foster later said more simply “he was scared to death.” Well, he fought that way. Foster came out blazing and totally dominated the action. In round two he put Rondon down to stay and secured the win and the title he felt was wrongly seized from him. He said after the fight, “I wanted it to go 15 rounds so I could punish him. I hate him and I hate the WBA.” Alrighty then, no doubt about where Bob stood on things. Well, rocky though the relationship was, Foster would continue to hold onto the WBA crown until he retired from boxing.

Some 21 years later the light heavyweight division would find itself split again. Michael Spinks had the WBA version of the title and Dwight Muhammad Qawi was the WBC champ. Both were defending their crowns against superb fighters and the public wanted them to fight. It came to pass on March 18, 1983. I was there in the Convention Hall in Atlantic City with a packed house of boxing fans. The atmosphere was electric and pundits and fans alike expected a pitched battle between these two men. It turned out to be a pretty dull affair in which Spinks was the consummate boxer-puncher and kept the charging Qawi at bay while landing a variety of punches. Spinks came away with the close but unanimous decision. 

Michael Spinks beats Dwight Muhammad Qawi to the punch during their 15-round fight for the WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine light heavyweight titles on March 18, 1983 at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

The lead up to that fight feels very similar to Bivol-Beterbiev – divided opinions on the outcome and great anticipation of that will happen.

The key difference between these two light heavyweight super fights of the past and Bivol-Beterbiev is that boxing was not as fractured back then and the demand for the best to fight the best was more palpable and in general more achievable. So, it took only about two years of a divided title for these matches to come about. 

The drumbeat for a Bivol-Beterbiev fight is at least five years old – probably more. They have both faced good competition and collectively fought just about everyone of note in their division – except each other.

One of the other differences is that back during these older unification matches (especially Qawi vs Spinks) these were hardly the ONLY major light heavyweight fights. 

There were so many terrific men in the 175-pound division and they all fought each other so much that having a major and exciting light heavyweight fight was less like a calendar circled event and more like any old normal Saturday. 

That is hardly the case these days. With fighters fighting less often, and a division with less than impressive potential matchups, having Bivol-Beterbiev seems more important to the weight class and to boxing in general.

Despite that less than equal comparison with those other light heavyweight eras, make no mistake, this fight deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as the great ones of the past. The 1970s and ’80s were golden decades for this division but if Bivol and Beterbiev roamed the earth in those days I assure you they would have been vying for titles and engaging in classic battles with those men. 

This is a major fight because these two men are such special fighters and because they have beaten the other meaningful fighters in their division. Bivol added extra spice to the mix by turning back the challenge of an undisputed champion (and biggest star in the sport) in the weight class below him.

Dmitry Bivol (left) on the attack against Canelo Alvarez (right) – Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom

So, will this fight do what many, but not all, mega fights do, measure up on fight night? I think the likely answer is yes. It is a fantastic match up of styles even if some have been too simplistic in their approach to this fight. It is a misnomer to say that it is a pure boxer (Bivol) vs. a puncher (Beterviev) match. Even though Beterbiev is a murderous puncher who has knocked out EVERY opponent as a pro, he also happens to be a very proficient technician in the ring with a high boxing IQ. As for Bivol, even though nine of his last 10 fights have gone the distance and he is by nature a boxer and has shown enough pop to back opponents up and fight off his front foot. He certainly did that against Canelo Alvarez.

Two things work against Beterbiev. First the injury to him  that caused the rescheduling of this fight and second his age. He has been superb in recent fights and shown no signs of diminished ability, but he is 39 and by any standard that’s advanced for a prize fighter. The big advantage for him is that he can hurt anyone in the ring and power never goes away. 

Whether it’s in a bar or on social media, boxing fans have had some fascinating conversations and debates about this match. Even if some might disagree on the outcome, I feel there is unity in the fact that it will be a prize fight well worth watching. 

Artur Beterbiev punishes Callum Smith during their WBC/IBF/ WBO light heavyweight title bout at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada. (Photo by Mathieu Belanger/Getty Images)

It exists in a division that has produced amazing battles in the past. Visions of Micheal Spinks, Matthew Saad Muhamad, Bob Foster, Archie Moore, Yaqui Lopez, Roy Jones Jr., Victor Galindez, Antonio Tarver, Sergey Kovalev, Marvin Johnson, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and so many more will dance in our minds as we think of the excellence of this division and enjoy the current incarnation of greatness at 175 pounds.  

I have been ringside to see much of that excellence. I look forward to seeing more of it on October 12.