Unbeaten WBC/IBF/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) became the light heavyweight division’s first undisputed ruler of the four-belt era with a twelve round majority decision over WBA champion Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Beterbiev pressed the action while the quicker Bivol tried to work the jab. Bivol stayed out of range and connected in spurts. Beterbiev tried to up the pressure even more midway but Bivol had success countering. Beterbiev had a big round seven but Bivol mostly managed to fight his fight down the stretch. Beterbiev tried desperately for the KO late, and managed to pull it out 114-114, 115-113, 116-112.
GARBAGE DECISION!!!! The robotic and overrated Beterbiev did NOTHING!!!
I called it.
“I don’t know who’s going to win. I like them both. I just hope that there isn’t going to be the usual crooked refereeing and judging that is all too familiar in boxing. Also I hope that those “royal majesties ” over there in that crooked kingdom aren’t going to cheat in Beterbiev’s favor because he’s Muslim. I don’t like the fact that he is permitted to wear a fairly big beard which acts as a cushion. Bivol’s team should have protested that.
*** ” I hope that those “royal majesties ” over there in that crooked kingdom aren’t going to cheat in Beterbiev’s favor because he’s Muslim. ” ***
Great fight! Beterbiev has always worn a beard and as far as being Muslim, The War of Attrition won out in the end.
Great fight! Beterbiev has always worn a beard and as far as being Muslim, The War of Attrition won out in the end.
I’ve never in my life heard of a sanctioning body demanding the shaving of a beard.
For the sake of saying it, I had it even thru 10 and Beterbiev winning the championship rounds. 115-113 Beterbiev. If Bivol wanted to win a fight by moving perpetually backward, he needed to be a lot more active.
I thought Bivol won, it was close but I thought Bivol edged it.
Not edged it ,Bivol clearly won.
Robbery! Bivol won this fight with boxing technique and speed.
I don’t agree with this decision..a draw would have been fair…
Bivol won… End of story!!!
Let’s do it again!!!!
Nah, AB won. It was close but the right guy won.
Yup. Close fight. Beterbiev was more active and moving forward. Bivol was less active and moving backward. Add into that Beterbiev was throwing much harder shots. It was close, but correct in the decision. I had it even thru 10 with Beterbiev winning the last two.
Much surprised at “the winner is Beterbiev”!!! I anticipated it to be Bivol!!! I saw he won at least 2~3 points……. What’s wrong with this match???
Congrats to Beterbiev! I was favoring Beterbiev to win. But I actually thought Bivol did enough to win a close, but clear decision. Mad respect to Bivol!
Bivol appeared to win but punchstat landed surprisingly were even and beterbiev did the slightly more damage
Beterbiev earned this one. Bivol has a lot of class. They both belong in the IBHOF. Great fight.
Glad to see 2 greats with class.
Tired of losers like Devin Haney & Kamala Harris, who have NO CLASS.
You’re either a self hating black person or a white racist.
So, haney gets cheated and HE is the one with no class? That is some seriously messed up logic.
BTW, Kamala will end the madness of the Trump stain on American history. Humanity will be better off for it.
As for the fight, I agree with Bradley, it failed to live up to expectations.
…Was Kamala Harris fighting tonight on the undercard?
No? She wasn’t?
Then shut up if you don’t want to talk about boxing on a boxing website.
Please dont bring stupid politics. though I wouild point out, when trump lost in 2020, he showed his class. GET ME 11,000 votes.
And you
Doesn’t matter what the corner said it was just motivational
Commentators were biased replays were biased towards bivol
I thought 116 112 was off even a draw would have been ok but Beterbiev edged it imo
I wanted bivol to win, but even the 116-112 was ok with me. the 4th round and 12th round which i gave to Bivol, and had it a draw, could easily have gone Beterbiev. In any case, for both men, this was there toughtest fights. they both behaved with class, compared to a guy I liked Before named tyson Fury, who said that they gave it to Usyk because his country was at war. He would have showed more class by saying, they gave it to him because I acted like an ass before the fight by my stupid comments.
What an intense fight!
Thought Bivol would have a little bigger lead and that he would have responded a little better to Beterbiev’s physique once they entered the final rounds, championship rounds, or maybe you should call it the Beterbiev rounds.
Thought it was very even, but I probably leaned a bit towards Bivol 115 – 113, even though Beterbiev was the aggressive one, I thought Bivol took home a bit more in terms of clean shots.
Going to watch the fight again, my brain may be coloured by how I guessed the fight. I would not have objected to a draw, and I certainly will not complain about this result either, at least not yet.
116 – 112 to Beterbiev was too generous.
A colourful undisputed champion, a victory for the fans and not least a huge mental victory for Beterbiev. A fantastic performance after injuries against an extremely good boxer.
Hats off and big congratulations!
Lol… we dissented earlier this week. It was clearly close. I wouldn’t have bet on a Beterbiev decision, but I thought he earned one. It was a true fight of deciding what you liked as a judge… did you like the aggressive guy throwing hard shots? Or did you like the slick guy moving backward and trying to pot shot some clean, hard strikes? Ultimately, for Bivol to win on my card, he needed to be a lot more active. He didn’t seem to want to exchange, which means to me that he needed to be more active and highly effective. He had his moments, but Beterbiev put in the better work.
Nonetheless, a great tactical two-way fight.
A draw or Bivol 115-113. But ok let’s see it again . Please ! Great fighters in a great fight !
I was hoping for a glorious KO victory by Beterbiev, but I have no problems with a rematch. In a rematch, let’s see how both fighters make adjustments.
I agree, Bivol will kick himself when he was winning that 7th round, and blew it at the end. the 11th also he was winning, But Beterbiev came on to win that . I scored it a draw, but the better man I felt won.
Great fight respect to both fighters I thought a draw would be fair result 116 to 112 that judge was way off.
Great fight. Both hit hard and got hit. Thought Bivol did enough to win but it was close either way. I wouldnt call this a robbery. Wonder if Canelo will fight for the title? Add Bivol vs Benevidez to the undercard. If not, Benevidez vs Beterbiev next but I see Benevidez getting KOed.
Hard to say really, don’t forget that Beterbiev will be older, and Benavidez is a young man by comparison. Would be tough fight for both.
Draw at best. Bivol in a close decision is what most had.
Who had Beterbeiv winning 8 of 12 rounds besides Glen?
I don’t think it was glenn, I think it was the Polish judge. I had it a draw, giving the 4th and 12th round to Bivol, but that judge may have given those round to Bivol. It wll be interesting to see the judges score cards.
Very close fight. Bivol connected the cleaner shots, at times he just stayed static due to contantly moving left or right, and Artur made his offensive.
Obviously Beterbiev threw the harder shots Bibol’s face can attest to it.
“Well, that escalated quickly.” (Will Farrell)
It was close, but Beterbiev was the victor here. Come on… he pressed the action, landed the harder shots and had Bivol in trouble several times…
Garbage fight, Canelo knocks out AB easy.!!
All hail Beterbiev, good show sir! Run your mouth now Eddie Hearn. Oscar is gonna love this.
I’m a Beterbiev fan but I did not see a 116-112 fight. This was razor thin. I would have been happy with a draw – thats how worried I was. So, this loss won’t hurt Bivol, he boxed beautifully and if he was ever hurt, ghe didnt show it.
Body language and reaction from both teams after the 12th round says it all!
Bivol won this fight, in a close but clear decision. Had it 7-5, arguably 8-4.
Can’t help but feel a few quick scorecard adjustments were made once Ramzan Kadyrov entered the ring, I have seen worse decisions but no doubt a bitter taste in the mouth for Bivol non the less, he did though give away the last two rounds. Run it back.
I counted a draw, although was biased in favour of Dmitry… Have to admit, that Artur was more impressive, but 116:112 is a shame
Nobody on here should be saying that was a robbery. It was a very close fight which could have gone either way. Bivol box well but Beterbiev definitely hurt him more and was pushing him back for the majority. 116-112 was ridiculous but the other 2 judges were on the money. Saying it was a robbery shows you know very little about boxing and quite simply makes you sound stupid, especially in this situation. I would love to see a rematch.
7 rounds to 5 is fair but 8 to 4 was ridiculous? I thought Beterbiev clearly won 6 rounds, and Bivol clearly won 4. All scores were within the margin of error.
Not a robbery but a very incompetent judge that is known for his incompetence and yet he ends up on so many A list cards. The fight was as good and as close as it gets. So anyone having a 116-112 card (or even more lopsided) is having a joke or wearing beer googles. Probably the latter.
Mind, same guy found four rounds for Broner against Pacquiao. Sure he’s “experienced” and his experience is being on the wrong end of so many fights. I literally cringe when I hear his name ringside as a judge. There’s been some other doozies but he’s one of them. Go look at some of the other fight controversies he’s been involved in. Watch the fights and then try to find the same score he did.
Good fight, good decision hard to score, both men showed respect before and after the decision.
Tough fight to score, Bivol fought brilliantly at times, but this reminded me of Canelo vs Lara. The only difference here is that Lara closed stronger and it appeared that Beterbiev started to impose his will late in the fight. Was it enough? Bivol moved a bit too much, and that probably cost him the win, but maybe it he stood and traded more he would have gotten knocked out. However a couple of the clean right hands really got Beterbievs attention, but the cautious fighter he is, he never followed up. Not a great fight but a good tactical battle
I had it 115-113 Bivol. I admit I picked Bivol and I like to be right so perhaps that influenced me. That said I am Canadian and technically so is Beterbiev so I should be happy! lol! I agree with a lot of the comments. A draw or 115-113 either way makes sense. When I heard 116-112 I honesty thought Bivol had it. I do not think this was a robbery as there were a lot of close rounds. I do think that giving 8 rounds to Beterbiev may have been pushing it though. I have a hard time seeing it that way. It may not have been a barn burner but it was a high level fight. Both guys showed a lot of class afterwards.
I don’t need to post as your comment is exactly what I was thinking! I thought Bivol. Would win a decision but I am Canadian as well and was pulling for AB. I was thinking draw and When they said 116-112 I thought Bivol. Both fighters were respectful of the decision and both showed true class and sportsman ship at the end.
Great fight! They went all out from early on. I gave bivol 7 rounds and 5 to berteviev! Bivol was a bit more busy with the combinations and connecting the clearer punches. It should have been a draw at the least! Will definately like to see a rematch! Either dude would be too much heat for benavidez to handle!
It was a Muslim getting a decision in a Muslim country (jk). It was very close. I had it a draw. Beterbiev showed he wanted it more IMO, though Bivol outboxed him but lacked greater activity in the latter rounds. Perhaps it was perception that won the fight for Beterbiev.