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Eddie Hearn taunted Artur Beterbiev at the press conference for Saturday’s undisputed title fight with Dmitry Bivol, addressing the veteran’s reluctance to talk this week.
Beterbiev, who puts the unified light-heavyweight belts on the line against WBA champion Bivol, has offered brief answers to media questions this week. In many cases, he has replied with one word at a time.
And on Thursday (10 October), when Beterbiev noted Hearn’s tendency to “talk a lot”, Bivol’s promoter was quick to retort.
The exchange began when press-conference host Dev Sahni told Beterbiev that Hearn had called him ‘arrogant’. “You want to make a fight with Eddie?” replied Beterbiev, 39. “Why do you do that?”
Hearn, 45, interjected: “Don’t worry about me, you have to get through [Bivol] first. When he’s finished with you, it’ll be easier for me.”
“No need to finish with him, I’m finished with him [on Saturday],” Beterbiev said. “With you, today maybe.”
“Maybe, I don’t think it would be a tough fight for you,” Hearn said. “You need a real challenge.”
“I think you’re not in good condition now,” Beterbiev jibed, leading Hearn to reply: “Me, terrible, but I think you need to switch on for [Bivol].”
“You talk a lot,” Beterbiev finally said, before Hearn hit back: “I know, it’s my job, you should try it!”
Bivol, 39, and Beterbiev, 33, are both unbeaten ahead of Saturday’s main event in Saudi Arabia. Each man is ranked in the Indy Sport pound-for-pound top 10.
Beterbiev, born in Russia but representing Canada, has a 20-0 record with 20 knockouts. Bivol, born in Kyrgyzstan but also of Russian descent, is 23-0 with 12 KOs.
The pair have long been linked and were initially due to fight one another in June. However, Beterbiev suffered a ruptured meniscus, delaying the bout.
