Unbeaten WBC/IBF/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) became the light heavyweight division’s first undisputed ruler in 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 saw Bivol only punching to get him off. He was doing all the holding and running. Beterbiev decided to let Bivol have some punches for him to get him but Bivol didn’t want to engange. It was the classic honey badger being tough knowing that the lion is stronger and trying to run away while taking jabs at the lion.
Wrong on all levels. Great, close fight.
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.
” Beterbiev has always worn a beard ”
No he hasn’t.
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’ve never in my life heard of a sanctioning body demanding the shaving of a beard”
——
“Beards are allowed in professional boxing, although the boxing board rules state that the fighter’s jawline must be visible in the fight. Rules vary depending on the level and association. For example, amateurs under the USA boxing rulebook must be clean-shaven or have a thin mustache whereas pros may have a small beard.”
Which sanctioning body are you quoting? I haven’t seen a beard ever rule-checked.
Beards were routinely banned in the past, I remember there was a big outcry over Durans meagre beard in Leonard Duran one. It was thought the beard might provide some kind of cushion against a punch. You wont find to many old time fighters with beards if any.
“You wont find to many old time fighters with beards if any.”
I don’t recall EVER seeing an old time boxer with a beard.
Those were men of distinction.
Real men. These guys today think
facial hair makes them a man.
They didn’t wear earrings back in the day either. Unheard of.
I’ve seen amateur fighters get handed a razor and told to shave if they wanted to fight that day. There were a few mustaches around but never any beards until very recently.
A beard will not cushion a punch, I don’t care how big it is.
State athletic commission are the ones that ask for the fighter to shave his beard.
If you never heard of a fighter having to shave his beard then that says more about you.
Any boxing fan knows for a fact that if a fighter has a long beard he’ll probably be asked to shave it. It doesn’t always happen and honestly should happen more often but some state let it slide.
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter was forced to shave his beard for his middleweight title bout with Champion Joey Giardello. The coarse hair of a bead could also scrape the eyes of an opponent in a clinch.
I’m Old School , No matter How Good You Are you go into a ring with a THICK Beard I want you to lose ,,,and give me any Muslim talk ,you want to be a Muslim All well and Good just stay out of boxing …
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.
You didn’t think the fight was close? Hard to to see Bivol winning a fight with pitty patter punches while in retreat. It was a close fight but not a robbery. Surviving 12 rounds with Beterbiev doesn’t equal victory
That’s boxing. If you are scoring and the other guy can’t land its pretty clear cut.
If you’re landing more but the other guy is landing the more solid blows, its a lot harder to score.
Looking at the punch stats it’s clear that Bivol was out landing in nearly every round. Were the few blows Beterbiev landed solid enough to out weight that?
Pitty patter punches? LOL
Understand your position, Rob1967, Quite the fight…Reminds me of Sugar Ray vs Hagler. Ray showed flashes of brilliance in that fight, often slowing or stopping Hagler’s relentless pressure, punching. Whereas in this fight…same style match up, Bivol would not stand and engage enough…no dominance in flashes like Ray did to get the edge over Beterbiev punches. In the rematch Beterbiev better be prepared for that.
I don’t agree with this decision..a draw would have been fair…
Terrible decision
Bivol won… End of story!!!
Let’s do it again!!!!
“Let’s do it again”
Yes – and not in the land of the “royal majesties”!
“Let’s do it again”
Yes. But not in the land of the “royal majesties”!
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.
You’re right. Did you see Bivol’s left eye? Those were shots that went through his guard.
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
That one spot of damage was not from Beterbiev landing a punch on Bivol’s face. Bivol only had his left eye bruised, and he clearly explained that he blocked the punches, and the bruise was from his own fist.
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.
Kamala will let 50 million more undocumented people and gangs in the country. Is that what you want?
Were all immigrants to US properly “documented”?) As to gangs, US prisons and streets are full of those with US citizenship, who committed crime during Trump’s period, so what,- prohibit all “documented immigrants” except indigenous people?)
Ignorant racist traitor
…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
True, but those two fools Haney and Harris aren’t HoF.
LeKaren James, this is boxing not politics you have no class.
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.
I want a rematch!
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.
Nicolas
Are you having a laugh?
Benavidez has no chance against these 2 warriors, let’s see him fight Canelo first and see how he does.
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.!!
Cinnamon don’t want none of that.
Your an idiot.
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.
8-4 for sure ,no way Beterbiev won more than 4 ,NO WAY!
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.
I thought Oscar won the 1st 8 rounds against Tito Trinidad in 1999, but Tito won the CHAMPIONSHIP rounds 9-12 & the fight in Vegas. Judges don’t score rounds 10-12 like rounds 1-3. In a winner-take-all fight, judges look for effective aggressiveness (who wants it more). Like thoroughbreds, Beterbiev & Tito wanted it, while Bivol & Oscar just wanted to survive it. Since both Tito & Oscar are Catholic, what does Religion have to do with it? Sorry, you can’t win by backing up & eating leather.
Good judges score all rounds the same way.
Super good fight!! Real tough one to score but i agree with the decision.
Congrats Artur!!
Seriously.watch the fight again u wannabe boxers. At least 5 of those rounds could have went either way. 116-112 judge chose beterbiev.
Result is final.
It was a nice clean fight, a Chess Match played beautifully by two talented men
But…that one judge who had it 116-112 kinda messed it up a bit
This deserves a rematch or maybe even a trilogy
It was a close fight, but I had Bivol 7 to 5. Considering, I usually favor the fighter coming forward, that is surprising. Ni matter how you feel, this requires a rematch!
Bivol dominated through most of the fight. They even showed the odds changing as the fight progressed, until the odds became two to one in favor of Bivol. The odds didn’t change like that because Bet. was winning!
Boxing is so crooked I’m always amazed if the judges make a correct decision in a high profile fight. This money bag kingdom of “royal majesties” adds yet another layer to the corruption.
More corrupt than Las Vegas? So the fight would have more credibility if it took place in
Sin City?
No place is more corrupt than Las Vegas, a city built in the desert by organized crime whose entire raison d’être is to fleece the suckers.
Elites behead their slaves in Las Vegas?
I thought Bivol won 6-5 with one round even but could have gone either way. Hopefully there will be a rematch as it warrants one. Also this is a boxing news site so keep it that way.
Watched the fight again. Thoroughly.
Beterbiev turns up the pace and puts pressure on Bivol in the final minute of many of the rounds. It’s causing Bivol’s performance to be overshadowed. Also, as soon as Beterbiev turns up the heat, Bivol has problems with his physique. Beterbiev is much stronger. It surprised me that it was so obvious.
What strikes me at the start of the fight is that Bivol is finding his way with his counter-punches, he’s also scoring to the body and getting more out of the exchanges. Beterbiev’s punches are mostly hitting the gloves, arms, missing or slipping to the head. Not much is getting through. Round 1 – 3 to Bivol.
Beterbiev is warming up. All about as expected.
Round 4 difficult to judge. After the first four rounds I thought. Hey Bivol, you’ve eight rounds left and it will be a damn long journey.
Round 5 is Beterbiev’s and I saw in my mind how he would increasingly take over. Earlier than I thought.
But, after I have watched rounds 6 – 9 very carefully, most of what Beterbiev does in those rounds takes gloves and arms, or Bivol has time to duck or slip away. Bivol is doing a lot better than I thought after round 5. Beterbiev gets round 6 from all the judges which is a gift, rounds 7 and 8 are clearly Bivol’s. Round 9 is surprisingly difficult to judge.
The last rounds 10 – 12 which Beterbiev looks to dominate are not quite what they appear to be. He looks more like he is chasing a sand-bag. Bivol is being pushed hard but he’s landing more clean shots than he’s getting credit for. Beterbiev’s punches on the other hand are again surprisingly unclean, taking on Bivol’s guard, and are not actually getting through. Some of it of course, but not as many as it appears to be. I don’t agree that Beterbiev won all of the last three rounds.
I don’t like to complain. Beterbiev is hard not to love, same with Bivol, so I have no personal favourite of the two. But when two different styles meet, it’s important to assess what actually goes through and what doesn’t. Although Bivol went around like a swirling autumn leaf at times, most of Beterbiev’s punches were no hits.
After watching and studying the fight I think 116 – 112 for Bivol is correct. I could maybe stretch it to 115 – 113 but definitely not to a draw.
Good analysis!
It looks that this Polish judge was biased to the Russian flag of Dmitry… Poland is more concerned about Pootin than West Europe or US… should be considered next time…
Eddie Hearn is going ballistic over the judging, so hopefully we’ll see a rematch, with an undercard that’ll include a couple rematches of the biggest robberies of 2024: Gustavo Lemos beat Hearn fighter Richardson Hitchins from pillar to post, but the New York Haitian was given the decision; Thomas Mattice opened a cut on Rocky Hernandez with a clear punch, but Hearn fighter Hernandez was awarded a Technical Decision after the punch was called an unintentional head butt.
berteviez gets the last three rounds and wins the fight bivol was on the defensive side trying to survive looked tired at the end of the fight like to see a rematch
So, I just rewatched this fight with the sound off.
I scored it 115 to 113 for Dmitry Bivol.
I think that one of the reasons why Beterbiev got so much credit is because even the shots that Dmitry blocked were enough to physically move him.
Beterbiev just has THAT MUCH power.
Beterbiev also has a very underrated jab, which gave Dmitry a lot of problems.
One of the things that Beterbiev does well, aside from switching up speed and power on his punches, is to punch when his opponents don’t expect it and when they don’t think that he is in range to hit them.
He is very good at closing distance and cutting off the ring, and basically mugging his opponents along the ropes.
Even the shots that hit the shoulders, elbows and hips hurt like hell.
I think that Bivol, even moving backwards, still had greater accuracy, and was able to nullify a lot of Beterbiev’s offense.
He was also briefly able to stun Beterbiev at least 3 times.
I would love to see a rematch.
Reminds me of the Hagler Leonard fight. Bivol did land good combinations early on and was clearly ahead before the 8th round. Bivol gave away the last 2 rounds – both were tired but Beterbiev was not afraid of getting KO’d & seems Bivol was holding & not engaging. Beterbiev was not crushing Bivol & a little razzle dazzle and movement could have stolen the last 2 rounds just like Leonard did against Hagler
Anyone saying that this was a garbage fight needs their head examined or just Mayweather fans.
This was a non stop action fight, if you don’t like it, don’t watch and stick to watching the s… shows now in Vegas.
Great fight. I really like Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev (both humble), but I especially loved seeing Eddie Hearn whine like a girl who just lost her puppy.
It was a great fight with Bivol having the perfect game plan. I thought Bivol won the fight without question, but I had a better view than the judges. Most of us get to watch the fight in HD and camera men who are always in position. Judges on the other hand see a 12-inch screen or they are looking up from ring side. They are stationary and see what’s in front of them. Based on the chatter after the fight from people who watched in person Bivol won but didn’t get the call. Keep in mind many think Bivol was cheated but now he is due to get a record payday. More than anything he would have if he had won. It’s nice to see these even matchups made.
Sure it was fought at a high level but fight was boring as hell.
The “winner” first choice of action was to give a big warm smile and hug to a terrorist who was escorted into the ring by elitist “royal” tyrants.
A mockery to humanity.
The people saying all Bivol did was run are wrong.
Bivol needs to add power to his repertoire. He should not change his style, but he should add hard power training to his routine. With Bivol’s skill, if he could add more power, it would be nice.
Methinks the wrong guy won as a fan of both.
Not surprised by this result. I have always felt that Bivol was overrated. He did beat Canelo sure, but Canelo admits that he wasn’t 100% that night, and possibly dealing with some kind of injury. Canelo possibly underestimated how much he needed to prepare to fight at that weight against a heavier opponent. Canelo sought a rematch against Bivol, yet Bivol declined. It is quite a feat to beat Canelo twice, yet Bivol ran from the opportunity. This was a clear indication that he’s not all that great. Beterbiev proved that here. Credit to Bivol for doing what he had to, to avoid getting knocked out, but I agree with this decision.
Canelo is not being honest about if he was 100% for the bivol fight. He got beat fair and square by a guy who can actually box and was bigger than him. The difference was class and size. Bivol challenged Canelo to a rematch at 168 and canelo turned it down. So, I don’t think it was bivol running from an opportunity.
The bottom line is, Beterbiev wanted it and Bivol didn’t. This was a fight, not a race or a beauty contest. Leonard- Hagler in 1987 was an epic display of grit and grind where both fought to the end. If Bivol stands and fights in the rematch he will be knocked out.