Dmitry Bivol says he was afraid of being “caught in a trap” in his loss to unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in their previous fight last October.
The former WBA 175-lb champion Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) took an evasive, safety-first approach against the knockout artist Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs), hitting to make contact in an amateur style and then immediately retreating.
Will Bivol Change?
That’s why he lost. That style is junk in the pros, and fighters must sit down on their shots to win at this level.
Bivol’s unwillingness to take risks resulted in Beterbiev taking control of the fight and winning a 12-round majority decision. In their rematch on February 22nd in Riyadh, Dmitry will need to show some courage by standing in the pocket and fighting Beterbiev instead of taping & fleeing, which is what he did the entire fight last October.
You could see how Bivol always had his feet prepared to step back when throwing punches, and that further took away what little power he had going into the contest. When Beterbiev began pressing nonstop starting in the sixth, Bivol went into full-scale retreat mode and stayed that way for the remainder of the fight.
The white flag was up for Bivol as he just gave up the fight, taking shots in the flank as he ran from Beterbiev. It was awful to look at how he’d given up, but we saw Bivol’s true colors with that move – yellow.
The one judge that scored it 114-114 was being overly generous to Bivol. He did not win the fight because he was easily frightened and unwilling to stand and fight. I’m sure Bivol regrets not doing more, but whether he’ll change is questionable.
He’s 34, set his ways by now, and he’s always been weak-kneed when pressured by punchers. We saw the same behavior in Bivol in his fights against Lyndon Arthur and Joe Smith when those fighters went after him.
“At light heavyweight, anyone can punch, but Bivol might be a little more fast,” said Artur Beterbiev to DAZN Boxing, discussing his fight against former WBA 175-lb champion Dmitry Bivol from October 12th last year. “I’m always looking for mistakes [in his opponents].
“He is like a wall. I didn’t throw my punches to break this wall,” said Bivol about what it was like to fight Beterbiev. “I was throwing them to target because with guys like him, if you try to break the wall, you could be caught in the trap.
“Sometimes I’m doing it, and I did it in my previous fight. I took some risks sometimes,” said Bivol about standing and trading with Beterbiev on rare occasions in the fight.
Last Updated on 02/06/2025