Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol have received almost unanimous praise for their long-awaited fight.
The two men did battle to crown an undisputed light-heavyweight champion, and after 12 hard-fought close rounds, Beterbiev narrowly came out on top via majority decision.
The scorecards split opinion within boxing, but one thing onlookers seemed to agree on was that it was a great chess match between two of the best fighters in the world.
One man in particular was a lot less impressed though, and that is former light-heavyweight world champion Antonio Tarver.
Tarver competed from 1997 to 2015, becoming a unified titlist during that time, famously picking up two victories over boxing legend Roy Jones Jr.
‘The Magic Man’ has criticised both Beterbiev and Bivol for their efforts in the fight, telling his YouTube channel that he feels there was low IQ on display.
“I gave both of these fighters a C+, because of the action that I saw and the opportunities that were missed.
“Bivol could have won this fight, and if he would have pressed the gas early, he could have done something amazing like stop Beterbiev, because it didn’t look like Beterbiev had anything on [the night]. Nothing like he normally has.
“He didn’t have his weapons, they weren’t being used effectively. You can give credit to Bivol if you want to, I just think Beterbiev had an off night, a tremendously off night where his balance was effected by it.
“Go back and look at the fight, every time Bivol let his hands go, Beterbiev had no answer. He covered up until Bivol was done punching and then he went to his business. That ain’t high class and high IQ boxing. That’s not world class boxing doing that.
“We like these guys to open up to get in between these shots. I’m not saying Beterbiev didn’t put his best foot forward, I just think it was a tremendously off night.”
While Tarver may not have been impressed, many fans were clamouring to see an immediate rematch between the pair, and Beterbiev has since confirmed he is willing.
