After nearly 18 months, WBC/IBF light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) will make his first title defense as a unified world champion Saturday against Adam Deines (19-1-1, 10 KOs) from Megasport Arena in Moscow. Beterbiev, boxing’s only world champion with a 100 percent knockout rate, returns to his home country for the first time as a professional.
Here are some of Beterbiev’s thoughts before his showdown against Deines:
“It’s been a difficult year for everyone. Now, I’m feeling good. I had a very good preparation, very good camp in Russia. We’re ready for a fight,” stated Beterbiev.
“I’m very happy to have a fight in my home country. We studied Adam. We watched some videos. We have a couple of strategies.”
“You never hear predictions from me. I’m a simple boxer. I’m not like Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali can say, I’ll knock him out in eight rounds, or 10 rounds, but I’m not like this. I’m focused on doing my best.”
Deines, who resides in Germany, has won a pair of bouts since the lone loss of his career.
Programming Note: Undefeated welterweight contender Alexander Besputin (13-0, 9 KOs), who was originally scheduled to fight Maximiliano Ricardo “El Picante” Veron, will now take on Viktor Plotnikov (33-10, 15 KOs) in a 10-rounder. Besputin-Plotnikov will open the ESPN+ exclusive portion of the broadcast. The 12-round super middleweight battle of unbeatens – Azizbek Abdugofurov vs. Pavel Silyagin — is the new co-feature and will air immediately preceding Beterbiev vs. Deines on ESPN.
Its amazing to see the scope of Ali’s influence reaching all the way to the kids in Russia. An amazing career and life. As Boxing fans what have we taken from the great Ali’s life to apply to our own? We can only wish to be half as brave as Ali when he went against a racist system forcing to send him off to a far away land die in a bs war. If You Don’t Stand for Something, You’ll Fall for Anything just as the tens of thousands other Americans did.
Beterbiev in 2!
Beterbiev is a monster but, hasn’t really fought anyone not close to Canelo’s caliber. I say Canelo beats him by out boxing but not running. Canelo is very strong. If not as strong as Beterbiev, very very close. He’s going to get through all 168 pounders with ease. Benavidez may give him a bit of trouble but, other than him, no one. Please don’t say Charlo. That’s Canelo’s easiest
You said it Finito, easy work at 168.
All the Canelo haters demanding he fight the other 2 top guys at 175…. Yes he already beat Kovalev, who was the #3 guy at 175…. But Canelo moved back to 168, probably because he recognized that was where he felt his best.
Let’s have these 175 pounders fight each other, just like Canelo is trying to do at 168.
Dang!
I demand Beterbiev fight Tyson Fury next…. to prove that he’s legit!
Yes…. I said it, I want to be “that fan” that makes unreasonable demands on a fighter to satisfy my screwed up subjectivity…..
Just like Canelo haters……lol