On June 1, one of the most anticipated boxing matches of the year will take place in Saudi Arabia, at least for Russian fans of this sport. The current light heavyweight world champions, Dmitry Bivol (WBA) and Artur Beterbiev (WBC, WBO, IBF) will compete in the ring.
This fight has been talked about for a long time. Two Russian champions hold their championship belts and now they will finally reveal the absolute world champion. This will be a unique achievement for Russian boxing: the winner will become the first national absolute world champion in the four-belt era. The closest to this achievement was Sergey Kovalev, who dominated the light heavyweight division for a long time. But Crusher had three championship belts and Sergey never got to Adonis Stevenson, who owned the remaining belt and was quickly avoiding Kovalev. In addition, the winner of the Bivol-Beterbiev duel will become the second Russian absolute world champion in history: until now only the legendary Kostya Tszyu held this title.
Why the fight between Bivol and Beterbiev is so interesting:
Bivol and Beterbiev represent two different styles. Their fighting is the reason we love boxing.
So, in every sense, the fight between Dmitry and Arthur will be historic. Both have already spoken out repeatedly about the fight for unification.
“He is very strong, like a rock. His punches are very hard… Honestly, I think this is my hardest test. He is physically stronger than Canelo Álvarez and has good technique. Many people talk about his strength, but forget about his technique. I like smart boxing and I think I will show this boxing. I hope he overcomes the force. I hope these skills win,” Bivol quotes Matchroom Boxing about Artur Beterbiev.
Dmitri Bivol
Photo: Getty Images
Beterbiev, apparently, did not believe that this fight would take place, he spoke many times about his desire to fight Bivol.
“I am totally in favor of this fight. Since this is sport, we have some questions for each other. He has one belt, I have three belts, we have to come together, that’s all. What problems?” – said Artur Beterbiev.
Curiously, according to the media, the boxers’ contracts have a rematch clause, which would be quite logical, especially if the fight is close. But it seems that the Arabs, who actually managed to reach a common denominator with the Bivol and Beterbiev teams, have other plans. Suddenly, a new potential star appeared in the Russian division: David Benavidez. The undefeated American shone a lower category and even became interim world champion and defended the interim belt several times. But he couldn’t fight the current Saúl Álvarez in the division. David then decided to go to the president of Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Entertainment, Turki Al ash-Sheikh, who organizes major boxing tournaments, to ask him to organize a fight with Canelo.
Canelo escaped from Benavidez with an interesting pretext:
Canelo has surrendered to his most dangerous opponent. There will be no historic battle
“I box for greatness, not for money,” Benavidez said. “Your Excellency, if I don’t beat Canelo, I will donate my entire purse to help the children of your choice.” If I beat Canelo, I will donate a significant part of my pocket to fight child hunger around the world. I am the people’s champion and I will continue boxing with the best! I keep my word,” Benavidez said.
But Turki Al ash-Sheikh has his own opinion on this matter and plans to take David to the winner of the Bivol-Beterbiev pair. Apparently, it is easier to reach an agreement with the Russians than with Canelo. At the same time, according to the media, Turki wants to organize this fight in December and, consequently, leave Bivol and Beterbiev without a revenge. And, of course, all these conversations are additional motivation for Arthur and Dmitry: the loser of the fight can be left without championship belts for a long time.
Artur Beterbiev
Photo: Getty Images
The fight between Beterbiev and Bivol is expected in the boxing world as much as the fight between Tyson Fury and Alexander Usik. Also, heavyweight stars always postpone their fight, but Arthur and Dmitry are extremely serious.
This fight is also interesting because two undefeated world champions with perfect records, completely different trajectories and styles will compete in the ring. And it is almost impossible to predict who will win this battle.
“These guys knocked out others, they seemed dominant. You know, I can’t wait to see this fight. Beterbiev will win by knockout or Bivol by decision,” said former light heavyweight world champion Antonio Tarver in an interview with One On One Boxing.
