There will be a fight between Bivol and Beterbiev! The Russians shook hands and will fight for a single belt
Sergey Sorokin April 16, 2024, 09:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Four titles and absolute greatness are at stake.
Professional boxing fans are waiting with bated breath for upcoming events. First of all, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will fight for the title of absolute world champion. And then two Russians will enter the ring: Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. More recently, talk of this fight caused great concern. And all because there was no official information. But on April 15, the first press conference was held in which the fight was announced. The fight will take place on June 1 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). And the confrontation promises to go down in history forever.
Everything will be at stake in this fight. The Russians will fight for five belts at once. Why five? The WBC, IBF and WBO titles belong to Beterbiev, the WBA to Bivol. And in Saudi Arabia they prepared a unique belt especially for this event. It will bear the inscription “Undefeated”, which once again underlines the importance of the battle of compatriots. One of the most legendary boxers in history, Roberto Durán, was invited to present the new belt. And he appeared in public as if in a couple of minutes he himself was going to get into the ring.
Roberto Durán with belt
Photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images
On April 15, during a press conference, the combatants managed to talk about the upcoming confrontation. The first to speak was Bivol, who did not launch any attack towards his opponent: “This is a great fight not only for me, but for all boxing fans. Sadovskaya Arabia will organize this fight, for which I thank them. When I became a professional boxer, my goal was to become an absolute champion. “I’m excited to fight for all the belts on June 1.”
But Beterbiev did not miss a great opportunity to pounce on his opponent: “I see another belt. I collect belts and need another one. Is this the biggest challenge? We’ll see. What do I think of this fight? I don’t think anything, I’m preparing for it. “I will be ready for this fight and I hope to be 400%.”
Artur Beterbiev at a press conference
Photo: Mark Robinson/Getty Images
And then the most interesting thing happened. The opponents made their first close. Of course, they have already met face to face. This happened before the fight between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou. Even then it was clear that this confrontation simply could not be avoided. Now everything has been officially confirmed. There is no turning back: on June 1, Beterbiev and Bivol will have to face each other in the ring.
Of course, Russia will be very sorry to lose one of its undefeated champions, but they will no longer be able to avoid the confrontation. Four belts (plus a one-time bonus) and a zero in the loss column are at stake. And on June 1, the whole world will see the battle of styles. Bivol is viscous and viscous, very technical. Beterbiev is simpler, but has incredible knockout power. From the point of view of boxing and professional sports, the event could become the main one in 2024.
