Beterbiev Too Powerful For Bivol, Says Hasim Rahman

Hasim Rahman feels that Artur Beterbiev is too powerful for Dmitry Bivol and will knock him out at some point in their fight this Saturday night in Riyadh.

The former two-time heavyweight champion Rahman says WBA champ Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) will outbox IBF, WBC, and WBO champ Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) if it’s that type of fight, but he doesn’t think it will be.

Rahman sees Beterbiev cutting off the ring on Bivol, wearing him down, and knocking him out in that order this Saturday, October 12th, in their undisputed 175-lb championship contest at the Kingdom Arena.

Hasim likes Bivol’s skills, but it’s just that he’s facing Beterbiev, who is so powerful, hits too hard, and will eventually get to him for the KO. Bivol gets hit because he’s a combination puncher, and those guys get tagged frequently.

The 33-year-old Bivol has gone far in his career, holding his WBA title for seven years since 2017 and successfully defended his title 12 times, but he’s not faced great opposition during all those years. The best guy Bivol has fought since capturing his WBA belt is 5’8″ Canelo Alvarez, who was much too small to compete at 175.

“Artur Beterbiev has excellent boxing skills. He had a tremendous amateur background and went to two Olympics. Nobody has brought it out yet because his power is so devastating. That rules everything,” said Hasim Rahman to Fighthype, previewing the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight.

“Bivol, if he makes Beterbiev box, he’ll beat him. He’s a better fighter. I do think Bivol has better footwork, but I think Beterbiev has the ability to cut the ring off and make him fight,” Rahman continued. “If you’re telling me that Bivol is not going to get hit by Beterbiev. If you’re not telling me that, then you’re not telling me anything I want to hear because he’s going to lose.”

Bivol will get hit a lot in this fight becasue he’s going to be forced into exchanges by Beterbiev whether he wants to or not. Moreover, Bivol is a typical hot-heated fighter who gets angry when he gets hit and wants to retaliate immediately. We’ve seen that many times in Bivol’s career, most recently in his last fight against Malik Zinad last June. The little known Zinad was touching Bivol up in the first three rounds, and he got angry and went after the Libyan fighter to knock him out in the sixth.

“He was knocking guys out at 200 lbs in the amateurs. Now he’s dropped down to 175, and he’s destroying the 175-pounders,” Rahman said about Artur Beterbiev. “The only thing that’s going to beat Beterbiev is Father Time. Other than that, nobody right now in the top 10 can beat this man.”

Rahman could be right. The only thing that will derail Beterbiev’s career is age, but that probably won’t happen on Saturday night. Bivol will get caught eventually and knocked out. We saw Bivol get hurt by Lyndon Arthur last December, and he wasn’t the same after being stunned with a right hand. In the last four rounds, Bivol was on his bike, running from Lyndon.

“For me, Bivol. Yeah, he can [stay away from Beterbiev’s power for 12 rounds]. Beterbiev hasn’t faced anyone like Bivol,” said cruiserweight Gilberto Ramirez. “I like the way he moves. I think he can win by decision.”

Gilberto was beaten soundly by Bivol in 2022 and badly outboxed by him. It’s not surprising that he’s siding with Bivol after that loss. It would have been interesting if Ramirez had stayed around 175 long enough to challenge Beterbiev for his three titles because then he would be able to give a more accurate assessment of who the better fighter is between the two.

👑👑👑 #BeterbievBivol | #RiyadhSeason | Oct 12, live on DAZN | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/2tQGexDMV6

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) October 7, 2024