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Dmitry Bivol has opened up on what it was like to face Artur Beterbiev’s power, after the pair’s undisputed title fight on Saturday.
Bivol lost a controversial decision to Beterbiev in Saudi Arabia, dropping the WBA light-heavyweight belt to the unified champion and suffering a first professional loss.
However, Bivol did make history as Beterbiev’s first opponent to reach the final bell, after the unbeaten “monster” entered Saturday’s fight with a 20-0 record including 20 knockouts.
Bivol later compared Beterbiev’s notorious power with the strength of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, whom Bivol famously outpointed in 2022.
“You know, a lot of fighters who fight him and Canelo, their emotions were against them,” Bivol told Fight Hub TV on Monday (14 October). “A lot of things depend on our emotions, because emotions may not let you realise all of your potential. The aura around Beterbiev is like: ‘He’s a monster.’
“Some people will be scared of it, but I was excited. I was trying to use the right emotions about it, because you know you’re going against this ‘monster’. Who’s going? Only me, and I could deal with him. It’s exciting.”
When asked about his thoughts on Beterbiev’s first notable punch, Bivol said: “Just, ‘Yeah, hard punch,’ nothing else. You know, he’s not about a heavy punch. He's about how strong he is – not only one punch, [but] when he’s [throwing] combinations. All punches in the combinations are heavy.
“I could compare with Canelo. He put all his energy on single punches. Maybe with single punches, sometimes he’s harder than Beterbiev, but Beterbiev is more compact. If you ask them, ‘Let’s do five punches,’ Beterbiev’s every punch will be hard; with Canelo, maybe the first is hard [and not the rest].
“Both of them are strong, but Beterbiev is bigger and [was] born strong. Canelo, to land his punch, was [throwing] from a distance. He was trying to put all his energy in. Beterbiev was not doing this in the ring, but if we ask him to do it, maybe his punch is harder. But he’s not using it.”
Beterbiev, 39, won a majority decision against Bivol, 33, with the scorecards reading 114-114, 115-113, 116-112. The latter scorecard, in particular, was the subject of widespread criticism.
There was no rematch clause for the fight, but it is expected that the light-heavyweights could clash again in early 2025.
