Old foes turned friends Carl Froch and George Groves have been discussing who might come out on top of the upcoming undisputed light heavyweight title fight between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
Current WBA Champion Bivol versus WBC, WBO and IBF title holder Beterbiev is one of the best match-ups that can be made in the sport right now. It was scheduled for June 1 but has been pushed back to October 12 due to a ruptured meniscus in Beterbiev’s knee.
Froch and Groves have been discussing the outcome on talkSPORT Boxing. ‘The Cobra’ believes the knee injury, which he suffered himself ahead of his fight with Groves a decade ago, will heal well given that Beterbiev lives clean.
“It’s a great fight. You’ve got the Eastern European speed, clinical accuracy and style from Bivol. He’s difficult to hit and accurate, so he will definitely hit Beterbiev, but Beterbiev is tough, he’s a bit of an animal and punches hard.
I can see it being a distance fight and if it does go the distance I’ve got to back Bivol because of the work rate. But it could end early cause Beterbiev when he’s under pressure and losing and behind on points he seems to close the distance and his clumping hooks and that backhand down the middle doesn’t look that fast but it’s accurate and heavy and causes damage.
It’ll be fascinating to see Bivol under pressure, getting knocked about and beaten up cause we’ve never seen it. “
He then settled on a firm prediction and went with the stylist.
“I’d say Bivol on a tight points decision.”
Groves admitted he has chopped and changed but ultimately picked the knockout artist.
“Every time I watch one of them fight I change my mind and think one of them’s going to win. I’m just going to say Beterbiev right now to contradict you mate.
He’s like lava, a volcano explosion that just keeps coming. Bivol is tight, straight shots but I think the lava is going to get him so I’m going to go Beterbiev.”
In the meantime, Bivol fought last weekend to extend his record to a perfect 23-0 after knocking out Malik Zinad and securing his first stoppage win since 2018.
