We were expecting fireworks. A knockout, assured, between two exceptional hitters. It was ultimately by majority decision that adopted Montrealer Artur Beterbiev won, and at the same time, became unified world champion.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) had only known victory during his career. Each of them, obtained by knockout. His victories, even those obtained in the last rounds, were therefore always unequivocal, leaving no one in doubt.
The situation changed on Saturday (effectively early Sunday morning) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Two judges ruled in his favor with scores of 115-113 and 116-112. The final judge ruled it a draw, with a card of 114-114. With such a slim lead, the fight could easily have capsized on one side or the other.
“It was a little uncomfortable. It was a tough fight. He has a lot of talent, maybe even more than me,” admitted Beterbiev in an interview in the center of the ring, after his victory.
We were dealing with a duel of hitters. Like Beterbiev, Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) is recognized for his power strikes, as evidenced by his 12 KOs. obtained in 24 fights. In context, it was expected that one of the fighters would end up on the floor. This was not the case.
It was as if the strength of the two adversaries neutralized each other. As if their blows canceled each other out. Like when the spells of Harry Potter and Voldemort collide, leaving room for total suspense.
Faced with this impasse, the judges had to make a choice. On the one hand, Bivol hit the target more frequently, exhibiting more precise strikes and more accomplished footwork. On the other hand, Beterbiev went all out. He landed more punches, dictating the pace of the fight in most rounds.
Bivol led quite clearly during the first 4 rounds. The middle of the fight was more even, but the end of the duel was Beterbiev’s business. In the tenth round, however, the oddsmakers favored Bivol, by a tiny margin. During the last two attacks, Beterbiev was able to impose his rhythm. Bivol was only defending himself.
“I am a warrior. I don’t have an explanation because it sounds like an apology. I am a warrior, Bivol told DAZN. I don’t know, I did my job but I felt I could do better, but that was just some judges’ opinion. Congratulations to Artur. He is powerful, very powerful. I have a bruise on my hand, he hit it and it was so hard. »
Apart from these six minutes of glory, Beterbiev will have distributed a low number of power punches. Much less than usual in any case. “I feel bad, I wasn’t good today,” he even criticized himself. I would have liked to hit more. I’ll do better next time. »
“But hey, even Muhammad Ali didn’t win all his fights by knockout. », he added, with a smile on his lips
A defense, the next step?
Beterbiev has offered few smiles to the Quebec public over the years. The most stoic of men, however, had excellent reasons to show his teeth, after obtaining the WBA belt. A belt that will struggle to find a place at its size, with those of the WBC, the IBF and the WBO already in place.
This was his ninth defense of his IBF title. He defended his WBC and WBO belts for a sixth and third time respectively. After these sequences, at age 39, after a difficult operation to repair the meniscus in his knee, Beterbiev still seems to want to continue his career. The Russian has not ruled out the possibility of granting Bivol a rematch.
“If his Excellency is willing, then we will have a rematch,” he said.
Regardless, thanks to this victory, Artur Beterbiev becomes the first unified champion in the history of Quebec boxing. At the same time, he risks finding his place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Beterbiev is the first undisputed 175-pound champion since Roy Jones Jr. in 2000.