Artur Beterbiev says he’ll be different in his rematch against Dmitry Bivol on February 22nd in Riyadh. The undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) is expected to put Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) under constant pressure, forcing him to fight or run.
In the last half of their fight on October 12th, Bivol suffered a lot of damage from Beterbiev’s constant shots. Although Bivol had gloves up to block the punches, the impact from Beterbiev’s hard shots traveled through his gloves into his face, damaging them. Blocking doesn’t work when someone punches as hard as Beterbiev.
No More Respect
Beterbiev understands now that he fought the wrong way last time. In the first five rounds, he showed Bivol too much respect by not attacking him relentlessly. Artur veered away from his usual style of fighting, allowing Bivol to win uncontested rounds that he wouldn’t have won if he’d been pressed the whole time.
“The opponent is the same, but it’s a new fight, and I need to prepare different. You want to do everything different,” said Artur Beterbiev to the George Groves Boxing Club YouTube channel, discussing his rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22nd.
“With my team, we will learn more with some details that I can’t tell you. I did enough to win, but I want to do much better,” said Beterbiev about his first fight against Bivol on October 12th. “I don’t know. We’ll see, but my focus is the same,” said Artur about the rematch.
“No, I don’t care about this,” said Beterbiev when asked if he was bothered about not getting the knockout in his fight with Bivol.
𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 🥶 @ABeterbiev #BeterbievBivol2 | #RiyadhSeason | Feb 22, live on DAZN | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/ezvdJhax8O
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 16, 2025
The judges gave Beterbiev the victory by a 12-round majority decision in their previous fight on October 12th in Riyadh. There was a lot of bitterness from Bivol’s many fans and his promoter, Eddie Hearn.
They felt that his boxing in the first half was enough to win, but they ignored that he’d given up fighting after five rounds and running like someone being chased by a dog. It’s interesting how fans form opinions based on what they see initially in early rounds and then close their minds down to what happens in the second half of fights. It’s human nature.
Lazy people make snap judgments and then shut down their brains afterward. Bivol lost the fight in the second half because he failed to stand and fight. Fear had gotten to him and ruled his ability to fight off Beterbiev.
