If Beterbiev was a one punch at a time fighter I’d pick Bivol easily. But Beterbiev changes the pace of his punches and will throw combos. The reason Bivol beat Canelo easily is because Canelo was just winging shots. Bivol got hit plenty against Craig Richards and even buzzed badly by Smith. Im calling a 10th round stoppage. You can’t keep Beterbiev off you.
Bivol totally schooled Canelo yet the judges made it 115-113 as close to a draw as you can get 118-110 was a fair result if youre lenient to Canelo. It'll be a good fight I hope with the better man on the night getting the win. May the best man win
You can keep Beterbiev off of you in a bigger ring for sure. Bivols movement and Jab will be a big problem for Beter. Sig it.
^ I'm of this view. Bivol has no intention of exchanging with Beterbiev. He even said as much in saying "you can't fight Beterbiev". Bivol is absolutely going to use his speedy gonzales footwork to be gone every time Beterbiev wants to engage. He is going to use his speed edge to rip off jabs and 1-2s and then run away. Bivol uses long straight punches and Beterbiev likes his short crooked triphammer blows which will not enter the equation unless he manages to corner Bivol. Beterbiev has also has the most hassles historically against swift footed boxers, see: Gvozdyk and Usyk. Now that's not to say Beterbiev can't win. He has good footwork himself and he has developed a very useful jab which he showed off against Callum Smith. Likewise Beterbiev goes well to the body which definitely helps against movers and he has little sneaky tricks like treading on feet to stop an opponent from moving away for just long enough for him to smash them a few good ones. My prediction for this fight goes two ways. 1) Bivol stays on his horse and bamboozles Beterbiev so he wins a wide points decision and everybody is shocked at how easy it seemed. 2) Bivol looks good early and then slows down as Beterbiev's body attack takes its toll. In the late rounds he gets trapped on the ropes or timed trying to run and gets stopped.
Based on what? Beating Canelo? Got news for you man, beating Canelo at 175 isn't the stuff of legends.
Based on his general style. The guy is extremely hard to pin down and has hands as fast as I've seen at 175. Now, for sure it's in the scope of a guy like Beterbiev to beat him but he's going to have his work cut out for him.
Joe Smith had him out on his feet. Bob Foster lands on Bivol and he's in serious trouble. I'm a big fan of Joe Smith, but Foster is going to capitalize if he levels Bivol. Would not be surprised if Foster makes it look easy.
I'd be surprised. What was surprising is that Smith caught him with a flush shot right on the ear and Bivol stayed upright. The dude can take a shot too.
I think Beterbiev must hurt Bivol at some point to get the win. I lean towards Beterbiev but a guy who can box like Bivol should give anyone a pause when choosing a winner.
I have Beterbiev beating Bivol and possibly stopping him late in the fight but it's gonna be far from easy and he will have to be very sharp going into this fight. If he's anywhere close to how he looked against Smith then I see him having success getting through Bivol's high guard and being quick enough to close the distance on him.
My patented, world famous Boxing Predictor algorithm has calculated an 80% chance of a Beterviev victory. Only chance for Bivol is to box the best fight of his career, stay away from Artur by jabbing constantly and by staying OFF THE ROPES unlike Callum Smith who apparently loves being ravaged along the ropes. Artur should be able to wear down Bivol, and once Bivol gets off his bike he is a goner.
I'm a fan of both. Bivol would be, by far, the best competition Artur has faced. IMO, this one is a 50-50