By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/artur-beterbiev-vs-dmitry-bivol-betting-odds-and-prediction/25587/
Unbeaten WBC/IBF/WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Artur Beterbiev will be battling it out with undefeated WBA (Super) and IBO Champion Dmitry Bivol this Saturday, October 12th. The 12-round title unification battle between the Russians takes place in Saudi Arabia and can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while the entire card can be seen on DAZN pay-per-view. Beterbiev last fought in January when he stopped Callum Smith in the seventh round. Bivol’s last fight came in June when he halted Malik Zinad in the sixth frame. Beterbiev and Bivol were originally supposed to meet in June but the fight was postponed as Beterbiev suffered a knee injury. Beterbiev has held his IBF crown since 2017, the WBC belt since 2019 and the WBO hardware since 2022. Bivol was crowned IBO Champion in 2023 and has held a version of the WBA Belt since 2017.
Beterbiev won the vacant IBF title in 2017 by stopping Enrico Koelling in the 12th round and has defended it against Callum Johnson, Radivoje Kalajdzic, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Adam Deines, Marcus Browne, Joe Smith Jr, Anthony Yarde and Callum Smith all by way of stoppage. He won the WBO Belt when he beat Smith and the WBC version when he halted Gvozdyk. The 39-year-old, who fights out of Montreal, Canada, is a former world amateur champion and Olympian who turned pro in 2013 and has boxed just 98 rounds since.
The reason for such few rounds in the bank is because he’s knocked out all of his opponents while compiling a perfect record of 20-0 with 20 Ko’s. This of course means his knockout ratio currently stands at a perfect 100 per cent, but he’s sometimes disappointed fans and critics by shying away from the big guns of the light heavyweight division other than Gvozdyk, Browne and Smith. However, he has three three of the light heavyweight titles to his name while Dmitry Bivol owns the WBA Super Title and IBO version.
Beterbiev’s also beaten the likes of former world champions Gabriel Campillo in 2015 and Tavoris Cloud a year earlier. Size-wise, Beterbiev isn’t the biggest light heavyweight around as he’s just under 6-feet tall with a reach of 73 inches. He obviously has fine boxing skills that were utilized during his amateur career but since turning pro he hasn’t really had the chance to use them as he’s been on a seek-and-destroy mission over the past few years and has been very successful at it so far.
Beterbiev has a pretty solid chin but he’s been on the canvas before as Jeff Page Jr. dropped him in the first round in 2014. However he got up and stopped Page the next round after decking him twice. The knock against Beterbiev is that he doesn’t use his jab enough, lacks hand speed and doesn’t move his head much either, which makes him a bit of a sitting duck. But he hasn’t paid for it yet due to his tremendous power. Since turning pro, he’s also won the NABA, WBO International, WBO NABO, and IBF North American Light Heavyweight titles.
The 33-year-old Bivol was born in Kyrgyzstan and fights out of California. He enjoyed an excellent amateur career with a reported record of 268-15 and won numerous national championships before turning pro in 2014. Since then he’s boxed 190 rounds and has compiled a perfect record of 23-0 with 12 Kos. He has pretty good power in his punches even though his current knockout ratio stands at just 52.2 per cent. His last fight in June resulted in a knockout win but he went the distance in his nine previous outings with his last stoppage coming in 2018 when he halted Sullivan Barrera in the 12th round.
Bivol stands 6-feet tall with a 72-inch reach so is a half-inch taller than Beterbiev but gives up an inch in reach. He possesses smooth boxing skills and always seems to eventually wear his foes down with his heavy hands. He’s faced some pretty good opponents so far with wins over Gilberto Ramirez, Canelo Alvarez, Lenin Castillo, Joe Smith, Jean Pascal, Isaac Chilemba, Sullivan Barrera, Cedric Agnew, Robert Berridge and Felix Valera. Bivol won the interim WBA Championship in May, 2016 when he beat Valera by a unanimous decision. He was then elevated to full champion when Badou Jack gave up the WBA title after beating former champ Nathan Cleverly.
Prediction…
Beterbiev’s not really the most-skilled boxer around and it’s possible that he’s slightly overrated and is also 39 years old. He was dropped by Jeff Page 10 years ago and rocked by Anthony Yarde but other than that he’s never really been in trouble. Beterbiev eventually catches up to his opponents and finishes them but this fight will be a matador vs the bull with Bivol of course being the matador. Bivol had no problem whatsoever with Canelo Alvarez when Alvarez was supposedly the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, but of course he moved up in weight to meet Bivol. Both Beterbiev and Bivol can look a bit lethargic at times but can’t afford to lose focus in this fight or it could be over. Beterbiev is 39 years old and coming off of a knee injury while Bivol can be a master boxer at times. I’m leaning towards Bivol in this classic showdown between boxer and puncher as Bivol has the better boxing skills and defence and has enough power to do some damage.
