By Robert Hough
Artur Beterbiev is a serious man, a devout man, a powerful man. Sitting at a press conference, the IBF light heavyweight champion stares straight ahead. The Russian is ready. He makes this clear and says little else.
The only world champion with a 100 percent knockout ratio, Beterbiev (13-0, 13 KOs) defends his IBF light-heavyweight belt on Saturday against Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic (24-1, 17 KOs). The fight and two others will be televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. In the co-feature and first fight on the telecast live from Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif., Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas (30-1-2, 20 KOs) will make the seventh defense of his IBF junior bantamweight world title against No. 1. contender Ryuichi Funai (31-7, 22 KOs). Between the two championship fights, local favorite Gabe Flores Jr. (12-0, 5 KOs) is set for six rounds against Eduardo Pereira Reis (23-5, 19 KOs). The show starts at 7 pm PDT, 10 pm EDT.
“We have the plan for each fight and it is not that there will be a knockout,” said Beterbiev, a native of Khasavyurt, Dagestan Russia and resident of Montreal, Quebec Canada. “Fans like knockouts and I like them, but we cannot try for it.”
Trainer Marc Ramsay appreciates that getting things done in haste means his man gets hit less and watched more.
“Of course fans want knockouts,” he said. “The serious and sophisticated boxing fans can appreciate someone like Andre Ward, who is from this area, I know, and the skill on that level, but knockouts are exciting – and we get out of there that much quicker, in good shape and on to the next fight.”
Ramsay, a former amateur boxer who’s worked as a trainer for 24 years, knows how it goes in this day and age.
“Any fighter, when you have a sensational knockout, it’s popular with people in the arena, people watching on TV and there’s always a little video that gets attention on social media. But the minute you focus on getting it, you’ll be the one getting knocked out.”
It’s safer to assume it will be exciting, Ramsay said, because Kalajdzic is aggressive and Beterbiev’s coming forward, throwing nasty punches and ready to throw 1,000 punches in 12 rounds.
“He is who he is and I would never try to change him,” he said. “He is aggressive and that has risks, as we’ve seen in his last fight and with other aggressive fighters, but it would be crazy to try to get him to fight a different way.”
Beterbiev fought twice in 2016 and once in 2017 and 2018 due to the proverbial promoter problems. In his last fight, in October against Callum Johnson, the tall Russian attacked the tough British fighter and got dropped before knocking out Johnson in the fourth round.
“That was not bad because I learned from it,” Beterbiev said. “That was a good test and it was hard and I stopped him.”
Such is how it goes, Ramsay said.
“We will make some smaller adjustments in the approach, depending on the fighter we are facing, but he likes to come forward and attack, and that style has risks.”
Beterbiev, who career spans just 47 rounds, has taken little punishment along the way, but at 34, he knows there aren’t many fighting years left, wants to fight a lot.
“I would like to fight three or four times a year,” he said, “I like to do this.”
That’s not a problem with regard to training and resiliency, Ramsay said.
“He’s as serious and focused as anyone I’ve seen,” said the Canadian in his 24th year of training fighters. “He is religious and he takes his faith seriously. He does not drink. His life is his family, his faith and boxing.”
Some trainers talk of lighter camps and less sparring as fighters get past 30, but Ramsay won’t take that approach.
“If you have to change the training, it is time to retire,” he said. “He trains as hard as ever and he is happy to do it. He is ready for Saturday and he is ready for a strong, active run to end his career.”
* * *
Beterbiev is closer to the end than the beginning and Stockton’s Gabe Flores Jr., stands at the opposite end of the spectrum.
The lightweight who turned 19 on May 1 was Top Rank’s youngest-ever signing at all of 16 years of age. The young star with a giant Chevy truck featuring personalized “TOP RNK” California license plates is wildly popular in his sharp-edged hometown, the setting for the classic boxing novel “Fat City.”
“We’ve seen videos of his fights and we’re ready for this fight,” Flores Jr. said during the press conference. “He has a lot of experience so of course he’s going to be tough and smart in there, but we’re ready.”
Flores Jr. later acknowledged that in his youth, he can feel ready to take on the division’s best – next week.
“I know I have to be patient,” he said. “I can feel like I’m ready for anything, but I just turned 19 and I’ve had 12 fights. I’m know I’m not ready for the top fighters and I won’t talk about people I want to fight in three years. I’ll keep working and if it all goes well; I’ll have about double the fights I’ve had now and then I can think about challenging the top fighters, saying who I want. I have to win a lot more fights before I can even think about all that.
“I know I have to be focused now. I’m excited to be fighting in my hometown and that’s big, but Saturday is one more step and there’s a long way to go.”