The long-awaited light heavyweight showdown between Russian champions artur beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol It was officially announced at a press conference on Monday in London.
Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) will face WBA champion Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) for the IBF, WBC and WBO belts on June 1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The two met in the British capital to continue Turki Alarusik's ambitious vision for boxing in his home country.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk He lost the WBC title to Beterbiev in October 2019 by stoppage in the 10th round. After 40 months out of the ring after that loss, the Ukrainian reignited his career with three straight wins and is now arguably the third best light heavyweight in the world. .
“I bet on Beterbiev,” Gvozdyk told BoxingScene exclusively. “Look, good fight. I've never sparred or fought with Bivol, so I don't know how he handles Beterbiev's power. Bivol obviously has great footwork But Beterbiev knows how to cut those angles. I think he can hold Bivol to the ropes. If you look at Bivol vs. Canelo, Canelo pins him to the ropes. The problem for Bivol is that Beterbiev's power is on another level. When it comes to Canelo's boxing skills, he's not as strong as Beterbiev here. I think we're going to be in trouble unless we can break that down. I think Beterbiev is too much for him. It's a 50-50 fight, but if I were to bet my money, I'd bet on Beterbiev.”
Bivol's unanimous decision win over Canelo nearly two years ago probably hasn't been a particularly good year considering Canelo's relatively below-average performances since then.
“My opinion is the same,” Gvozdyk added. “The last couple of years of Beterbiev's amateur career he was fighting cruiserweights. He's obviously much bigger than Bivol, but I've heard that Bivol isn't actually that heavy. Beterbiev is bigger, He's stronger and heavier, so that will play a role. Bivol is a great fighter, but in my personal opinion he's overrated. He's good, but people think he's invincible. I don't think so, and I don't think Beterbiev thinks so either, but it will be a very tough fight for Bivol.
“I think everything is professional and I don't think there's any hatred. The team at Bivol has done great promotional work, but we're not talking about that. We're talking about what happens. It's going to be an interesting fight, I don't think Beterbiev will run him over, but he'll get close to him. Maybe he could knock him out, but if the fight happens. If I get far, I might corner Bivol, but I don't think that will happen. This is how Beterbiev wins fights, he just stops people. Fight me and he's chasing. He fought Anthony Yarde, and he did the job. I think the same thing will happen with Bivol eventually.
