WBA light heavyweight champion Dimitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) scored a sixth round TKO over previously unbeaten IBF #2, WBA #7 Malik Zinad (22-1, 16 KOs) on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bivol dropped Zinad with a right/left combination in round one and later got a referee’s stoppage with a barrage of punches in round six. Time was 2:06. It was Bivol’s first KO since 2018. Next up for Bivol is an October 12 undisputed showdown with WBC/IBF/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev.
Bivol did what he had to do. Look forward to the rescheduled Beterbiev fight
I think that fight with B is a mis match coz of age difference.
That was an entertaining fight, when Bivol turned it up it was game over. Competitive fight though. I’ll be a little worried if I were Beterbiev
well since Beterbiev is out for a year maybe we can get Bivol vs Benavidez later this year…..
or bivol vs canelo 2 ? he will probably want 200 million. oh, never mind.
Canelo doesn’t want to fight a smaller Crawford so there is no way he’ll want to fight Bivol again.
Zinad looked like he was going to be a very frustrating and slippery opponent – so Bivol got rid of him.
Bivol did not look great to me. He was hit with punches he normally gets away from. My guess is he is trying too hard to prove he can punch some. His game is not predicated on power. His brilliance comes from his pure boxing abilities. If he is to beat Beterbiev he best realize that and stop with the tough guy attitude. If Artur clips him with a punch as this nub did , it is over. He cannot absorb the shots Beterbiev is capable of throwing. Throughout Artur’s career people fought him incorrectly. As soon as he connects every person he has fought learns the hard way. He is a different animal and only a Bivol on top of his boxing game can come close to beating him.
Bivol vs Beterbiev is the best match that can be made right now. I was so bummed about the injury, because the clock has been ticking on this one for a while. It’s a pick ’em for me.
I feel like the odds are slightly in Bivol’s favor after Beterbiev suffered a torn miniscus.
That can affect his mobility as well as his punching power.
Bivol already has fleet foot, so this may make it that much harder for Beterbiev to keep up with him.
Anyway, we shall see.
Bivol is all the more ready for Beterbiev.
Bivol scored a KO, damn, who’s next, Hypejob Haney ?
To me, it was obvious that Bivol was looking to get in close, pressure the opponent, knowing that when he swings he will be able to catch him with a counter left hook. Bivol even went as far as to entice the opponent to swing by making himself not too hard to hit.