An irresistible light-heavyweight showdown between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev is just a matter of hours away.
This historic undisputed clash brings together the two best boxers in their division. Beterbiev is the unified WBO, WBC and IBF belt holder who carries huge amounts of power and an unrelenting come-forward style in the ring.
That has earned him 20 stoppages from his 20 fights to date including against the likes of Anthony Yarde, Joe Smith Jr and Callum Smith.
Bivol is also unbeaten in the paid ranks but has a different approach to battle, instead using slick skills, great technical grounding, solid defences and fast footwork to get his victories.
His standout win to date was over Canelo Alvarez in 2022 but Beterbiev now presents a whole new challenge as a naturally bigger man.
Speaking about the contest to Fight Hub TV, former multi-weight championed turned Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya predicted a win for Bivol given his skills.
“It’s a very unique style, I would have to give Dmitry Bivol the advantage here a little bit because he has the better footwork. Beterbiev stalks you down but with Bivol he’s constantly bam, bam, bam.
He’s a good boxer, man, with power, but he has skill up here. It’s a tough fight to call but I’m going to have to give Dmitry the advantage. It’s all about respect in the first few rounds, how he’s going to take his punch, if he has a chin.
I think Beterbiev has a better chin than Bivol, for some reason, I just feel that, I don’t know if it’s true. If Bivol can offset him, get him off balance with his footwork, it could be a long night for Beterbiev.”
