Will Beterbiev’s Pressure Mentally Break Bivol?

Artur Beterbiev applies constant pressure on his opponents with his short power shots, which create mental stress and wear them down slowly. Paulie Malignaggi wonders whether the nonstop pressure that Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) puts on Dmitry Bivol will take away his will to win.

Even if Bivol doesn’t break mentally, the power of Beterbiev’s shots could take him out sooner or later if he lands enough. The question is, can Bivol move for 12 rounds to keep from getting chopped up by Beterbiev?

Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) has never shown signs of breaking under pressure, but he’s never fought anyone like Beterbiev. He’s been in with big punchers like Canelo Alvarez, Gilberto Ramirez, and Joe Smith Jr. Those guys aren’t on the level of Beterbiev.

WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol and IBF, WBC and WBO champ Beterbiev will battle on October 12th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All four titles will be at stake in their headliner.

“That creates mental stress that can pay off later. Even if he’s not landing cleanly, you create mental stress, and you sort of take the sand out of the hourglass. You see what your opponent has left late,” said Paulie Malignaggi to Probox TV about the pressure that Artur Beterbiev puts on his opponents.

Beterbiev’s last two opponents, Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde, had their moments early against him. They were landing big shots that made Beterbiev cautious at times, but failed to stop him from attacking.

Yarde had more success due to his hand speed and the uppercuts that he was catching Beterbiev with. However, Beterbiev wore Yarde down by the seventh, and he was easily taken out in the eighth. Bivol doesn’t possess the same hand speed or power as Yarde, nor does his chin. So, if Beterbiev can land the kind of power shots on Bivol that hie did against Yarde, this ight won’t last more than four rounds.

“That’s what happened to Gvozdyk. He was doing good early. Beterbiev is able to take what he can get because he plays the position game. He’s cutting you off; he’s keeping that mental stress on you. He’s touching you where he can get you. Eventually, he feels like it’s going to pay off, even if he’s behind.

“That’s where it goes along the lines of, does he have to land something? All he has to do is touch you a little bit. It’ll create mental stress,” said Malignaggi. “Beterbiev, we’ve seen him break his opponent’s will to win, and that’s the question mark here.

“Beterbiev is a little older, but Bivol also comes with the same determination and skill set as Gvozdyk. He’s long and able to have that in-and-out style, and it kind of troubles Beterbiev if you don’t bust position, and you’re able to make them pay,” said Malignaggi.

Beterbiev has never had problems against fighters that used the in-out style that Bivol employs. In Beterbiev’s fights against Oleksandr Usyk in the amateurs, he hurt him, and was wearing him down at the ends of two of their fights. He had Usyk on the deck in 2011, and hurt him in the 2012 Olympics. These were three-round fights.

The fighters that Beterbiev has had problems with where the powerful ones, who hit him with shots that made him cautious.

“Does Beterbiev have enough left at 39 years old to take away the will to win for Bivol? Is that even possible?” said Malignaggi.

Beterbiev won’t take away Bivol’s will to win. That’s not going to happen, but he can still win by hurting him. Malignaggi fails to mention Bivol’s chin problems and the way he looks nervous when getting hit hard by Malik Zinad and Lyndon Arthur. It doesn’t matter if Bivol’s will holds up. If he can’t take the power shots that Beterbiev is going to be hitting him with, he’ll cave like the 20 previous opponents Artur has knocked out.