Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol will battle it out in the ring later this year for the undisputed light-heavyweight championship.
Beterbiev holds the WBC, WBO and IBF belts. He carries ferocious power and is the only current world champion who has a 100% knockout record, stopping all twenty of his opponents to date.
Bivol, the WBC champion, on the other hand is a slick fighter who has a remarkable jab and pairs considered attacks with slick movement.
Most pundits are finding it hard to split the two men, but former four-weight world champion and the last man to be undisputed in the division, Roy Jones Jr, doesn’t buy into that. He told Boxing Social that Bivol is the favourite, citing Beterbiev’s age and the fact he’s touched the canvas before as the reason.
“No. It’s not a 50/50 fight.
One, Beterbiev is much older, Beterbiev has been down, Bivol has never been down. Bivol has been in there with who at the time was the pound-for-pound best in Canelo Alvarez and made him look like nothing.
So it’s not a 50/50. Beterbiev has got everything to show me to bring it back to a 50/50 fight. Right now, Bivol has the advantage 60/40. Now, Beterbiev is a hell of a guy and one hell of a fighter and has awesome power but he has also been down and they was i see it is if someone else has knocked you down then i’ve got to get you down, you understand me? Now it’s one hell of a punch to walk through to get him down though, so it’s a very dangerous game to play because Beterbiev is the best punch probably ever in that division, so it’s a great fight.”
Beterbiev vs Bivol takes place on October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
