Dmitry Bivol righted a wrong with perhaps the most brilliant performance of what will surely be a Hall of Fame career.
Just four months after losing both his titles and undefeated record with a controversial majority decision against Artur Beterbiev, Bivol mounted a phenomenal showing in Saturday’s rematch to avenge that loss and claim boxing’s undisputed light heavyweight title at the Anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The end result was once again a majority decision, though this time in Bivol’s favor: 116-112, 115-113 and 114-114.
“I was better, I was pushing myself more, I was more confident, I was lighter, and I just wanted to win so much today,” an elated Bivol said post-fight.
“I just wanted to work from the first round until the end of the 12th, and I hope I did enough.”
In a sensational bout that had enough ebbs and flows to be a three-part dramatic series, Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) started strong and established his jab early to both the head and body, throwing in combinations while avoiding the worst of Beterbiev’s attempts to suffocate with forward pressure. But Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) settled into a rhythm starting around the third round, his ceaseless forward pressure and power punches forcing Bivol to fight off the back foot more and more as momentum swung hard in his favor.
By the fifth round, Beterbiev, 40, was in total control, swarming with hard punches in bunches and almost tripling Bivol’s punching output.
Yet while the pair’s first fight in October saw Beterbiev charge out ahead in the later rounds, this time around it was Bivol, 34, who made the pivotal adjustments. From the seventh round through the 11th, Bivol flipped the script and turned in a beautiful display of the sweet science, darting in and out of the pocket while slamming Beterbiev with pristine combinations, becoming more assertive and far less flat-footed, all while leaning on his lateral movement to essentially turn into a ghost in the ring.
Beterbiev climbed back into the fight in the 12th and final round, unleashing a blitzkrieg of offense and opening a cut under Bivol’s right eye in a furious race to the finish, but it was too little, too late.
In the end, Bivol earned his revenge and now becomes only the second undisputed light heavyweight champion of boxing’s four-belt era, securing the WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA belts.
Afterward, with the series tied a one win apiece, Turki Alalshikh — whose Riyadh Season promotional entity staged Saturday’s event — appeared to indicate that a rubber match between the two competitors may be next. Bivol said he hoped to rest and take some time to heal recent injuries, but indicated that he would accept a third fight if that’s what Alalshikh wanted.
When given the opportunity to protest the scorecards, Beterbiev declined and instead agreed with Bivol on the prospects of a third meeting between the pound-for-pound greats.
“I don’t want to talk about decision, this stuff. I congratulate Bivol and his team,” Beterbiev said.
“No problem, we’re going to do third fight.”
Beterbiev and Bivol entered Saturday’s bout ranked No. 4 and No. 7, respectively, in Uncrowned’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings, though that will surely change come Monday’s next update.
Check out full results, highlights and Uncrowned’s round-by-round coverage for Saturday’s stacked Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 fight card here.
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