Dmitry Bivol downplays Artur Beterbiev’s punching power, saying it wasn’t harder than some of the other fighters he’s faced during his career. Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) says Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) doesn’t load up on his shots and only focuses on landing them.
The former WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol, 34, was clearly bothered by the nonstop pressure that unified champ Beterbiev put on him in their first fight on October 12th. The pressure and his fear of Beterbiev broke him. He refused to stand and fight.
Pain Aversion
Bivol is a fighter who hates being hit and will go out of his way to avoid taking shots. That’s why he struggled against Lyndon Arthur after getting clipped, and the same happened to him in his fight against Beterbiev. He runs when attacked.
It will likely happen again on Saturday. Dmitry has skills but lacks the toughness to withstand pain. That’s the difference between him and Beterbiev. The latter is willing to take shots to deliver his own, but Bivol won’t. He’ll run to escape the flame. We see it in war. Soldiers go on the battlefield and retreat when they start getting shelled or taking rounds from the enemy.
The courageous ones follow their orders to attack. Bivol showed in his first fight that he’s the type of soldier who flees when under attack, which is why he lost. He’s not built for war in the way that Beterbiev is. Bivol is the worst type of soldier because he won’t keep coming forward to fight.
Mental Fragility
The mental hardware isn’t there for battle, so he’ll run again when Beterbiev unloads. It doesn’t matter if his shots aren’t as powerful as those of other fighters. The pressure overwhelms his opponents, and it mentally broke Bivol last time.
“It didn’t feel heavier than other boxers. I remember the first time I got hit by a right hand, and it was not nice, of course, when you’re getting punched,” said Dmitry Bivol to The Ring, revealing that Artur Beterbiev’s power isn’t as good as he thought previously, and not better than some of the other fighters he’s fought.
“It’s strong [Beterbiev’s punches], but not stronger than anybody else whom I thought had heavy punches like [Jean] Pascal or Joe Smith. He doesn’t put too much effort to reach his power. He’s just throwing punches, and they’re hard,” said Bivol.
Last Updated on 02/20/2025