Getting Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol within the ring took years of speaking and hypothesis. On Saturday, Beterbiev and Bivol will share the ring for the second time in 4 months.
Beterbiev obtained the higher of Bivol on the scorecards of their October assembly, changing into undisputed mild heavyweight champion within the course of. The end result wasn’t with out controversy, nonetheless, with most media retailers scoring the battle narrowly for Bivol. It wasn’t a theft, however issues definitely didn’t really feel settled the primary time round and Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi energy who helped assemble the primary battle, known as for an instantaneous rematch.
Bivol slowed within the late rounds of the primary battle, probably a results of Beterbiev’s early concentrate on working the physique. These late rounds proved crucial to the end result, with Beterbiev taking a majority choice on scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 114-114.
Talking with Struggle Hub TV, Bivol stated he is aware of the battle might be too shut for him to fade late, or take any spherical off.
Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2: Anticipate much more fireworks within the rematch and a potential trilogy battle
Brian Campbell
“I have to do it not only last rounds, I have to do it all fight”, Bivol stated. “I was thinking about generally, I have to do not just one punch more or one round more. I have to be better, I have to win each round without a doubt.”
For Beterbiev, the primary assembly was a brand new expertise. Bivol was the primary man who managed to take Beterbiev the space. Previous to that battle, Beterbiev had stopped all 20 of his skilled opponents.
“It’s a new experience,” Beterbiev stated within the ring after the battle. “I’m happy for that. I’m a very simple boxer. Boxers in the world like me, there’s more than 1,000. Even Muhammad Ali had fights go the distance.”
Nonetheless, there’s little doubt Beterbiev needs to attain a stoppage the second time round. His bruising, strain model is constructed to interrupt via opponents’ defenses and break them down.
The rematch largely comes down as to if Bivol can hold Beterbiev off of him and extra successfully use motion and jabs to pile up factors. If Beterbiev is ready to keep inside, it might be one other disappointing night time for Bivol.
The remainder of the cardboard is stacked with large names and intriguing fights, a rarity in trendy boxing.
Martin Bakole stepped in on quick discover to face Joseph Parker after IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois fell sick throughout battle week. Securing Bakole on quick discover was a giant save as he’s probably the greatest heavyweights on the planet and Parker deserves that stage of opponent after current wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. Zhang can even be in motion on the cardboard as he faces Agit Kabayel within the night time’s different large heavyweight pairing.
WBC light-weight champion Shakur Stevenson can even face a late alternative on account of sickness after Floyd Schofield withdrew from their battle. Stevenson will now face Josh Padley, who’s coming off a giant upset of Mark Chamberlain in September.
The WBC middleweight championship might be on the road when Carlos Adames defends his belt towards up-and-coming prospect Hamzah Sheeraz.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. will look to run his skilled report to 23-0 and transfer nearer to his first world championship battle when he faces Israil Madrimov in a junior middleweight showdown. Madrimov is coming off a terrific effort in defeat towards Terence Crawford and represents a major risk to Ortiz’s ascent.
“There’s not much to say. In my opinion, this is the best fight on the card,” Ortiz stated on the ultimate press convention. “I’m very excited to see all these fights in person. Very privileged to be here and I’m not going to let this opportunity go to waste. I’ll see you guys on Saturday.”
“Since my debut, I always chase at big fights,” Madrimov stated. “I have another big fight, I will show a great fight on Saturday. I want to show my skills for boxing fans.”
Let’s take a better have a look at the remainder of the undercard with the newest odds earlier than attending to a prediction and knowledgeable choose on the principle occasion.
Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 battle card, odds
Artur Beterbiev (c) -130 vs. Dmitry Bivol +105, undisputed mild heavyweight title
Joseph Parker -155 vs. Martin Bakole +125, heavyweights
Shakur Stevenson (c) -4000 vs. Josh Padley +1400, WBC light-weight title
Hamzah Sheeraz -300 vs. Carlos Adames (c) +235, WBC middleweight title
Vergil Ortiz Jr. -125 vs. Israil Madrimov +100, junior middleweights
Agit Kabayel -165 vs. Zhilei Zhang +135, heavyweights
Joshua Buatsi -205 vs. Callum Smith +165, mild heavyweights
Mohammed Alakel vs. Engel Gomez, lightweights
The place to look at Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2
Date: Saturday, Feb. 22
Begin time: 10:30 a.m. ET | The place: Venue Riyadh — Riyadh
Stream: DAZN PPV or PPV.com | Worth: $25.99
Prediction
There are causes to count on each Beterbiev and Bivol to be higher within the rematch. Beterbiev got here into the battle having had knee surgical procedure months prior. He has admitted his knee was not at 100% in that first battle however with 4 months to proceed therapeutic and gaining power, he ought to be capable to much more successfully apply his pressure-first model.
Bivol light late within the first battle and is aware of he can’t afford to provide away rounds within the rematch. each fighters, Bivol is the person higher geared up to regulate his method with the info gathered within the first battle. Whether or not he could make these modifications is the important thing to his probabilities of changing into undisputed champion.
We scored the primary battle narrowly for Bivol and together with his means to make the higher changes for the rematch, the battle shades barely his means regardless of his being a slight underdog. Choose: Dmitry Bivol by way of SD
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