There’s a huge night of boxing scheduled in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, including the main event on the card, the undisputed light-heavyweight clash between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev (23:00).
Beterbiev is the unbeaten WBC, IBF and WBO world light-heavyweight champion, while Bivol brings a perfect 23-0 recond and the WBC strap to the ring.
All of that means there is the chance to crown an undisputed champion in Riyadh in a fight that features on a stacked card.
Jai Opetaia, Chris Eubank Jr and Ben Whittaker are all fighting on the night, while there will also be a rematch of the thrilling British heavyweight title bout between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke.
- DMITRY BIVOL TO BEAT ARTUR BETERBIEV
- FIGHT TO GO THE DISTANCE
Skillful Bivol Can Reign Supreme
It would be unfair on Beterbiev to label Saturday night’s contest as beauty vs the beast, but it is right to suggest that the style of the two fighters are vastly different.
Beterbiev’s career has been built on power, pressure and seemingly being able to walk through his opponents punches, with the 39-year-old having won all of his 20 professional contests.
All of those successes have come by stoppage and the Canada-based boxer is fresh from a seventh-round TKO victory against Callum Smith.
However, that fight was seven months ago and time is not Beterbiev’s friend at the age of 39. Smith is a former world champion, but Mundo hasn’t recorded a top-level victory since beating John Ryder in 2019 and it’s not all that tricky to doubt the worth of that win.
Prior to that, Beterbiev was made to look like an aged fighter at times in a contest with Anthony Yarde, before the power took over, and you have to believe that a clash against Bivol rates as a step up in class.
Bivol is a brilliantly skillful boxer and it’s certainly not all style over substance.
The Kyrgyzstan-born champ has an excellent victory over Gilberto Ramirez on his card and Bivol also defeated super-middleweight king Saul Alvarez.
The 33-year-old brings a perfect 23-0 record to the ring, and although Bivol may have to settle for second-best in terms of power and strength, the Tokmok man has the skills and boxing ability to make his opponent look like an aged performer.
Beterbiev will look to put the pressure on and land power shots on Bivol, but the latter’s movement and skill could prove too much on the night.
DMITRY BIVOL TO BEAT ARTUR BETERBIEV
Undisputed Clash Set To Go The Distance
We have seen that even in periods of adversity, Beterbiev won’t take a backward step, but a clash with Bivol does look an extremely tough test, particularly at this stage of his career.
Beterbiev may lack the skill and boxing ability of Bivol, but he does boast plenty of power and it is unlikely his opponent will want this undisputed clash to develop into a war.
Bivol will surely look to control this fight from range, land his shots as the aggressive Beterbiev pushes forward and it could be more of a cherry-picking performance from the 33-year-old.
The Kyrgyzstan man should have the conditioning and substance to keep Beterbiev at bay and backing the contest to go the distance looks a fair play on Saturday night.
FIGHT TO GO THE DISTANCE
