Was Beterbiev's power overrated?

I don't know if you guys will agree with this analogy, but it sort of reminds me of GGG vs Jacobs, in that prior to GGG fighting Jacobs he was KOing everyone, was seen as a KO machine, but then he finally met a highly skilled guy who could stick and move like Jacobs, and GGG couldn't get him outta there.

After GGG went the distance with Jacobs, a lot of his fans started to think maybe he was past his prime because he didn't get the KO, while others said it was just that he finally fought a guy with high level skills that didn't stand in front of him.

That's I think sort of the same thing that happened to Beterbiev, he finally met a guy in Bivol with high level skills that could move and box and he was unable to stop him. Combined with the fact that he's perhaps starting to show signs of slowing down. But if you put Beterbiev back in with the guys he was KOing prior to Bivol, I think we'd all expect him to continue to KO guys. But when you fight a guy like Bivol, or in GGG's case Jacobs, it's a very new experience and you start to change your approach. Now all of a sudden for the first time in your career you actually have to worry about judges.

 

Don't compare Daniel Jacobs to Bivol.

 

Well I would agree that Bivol is better than Jacobs was, but in terms of styles, GGG had never fought someone with the speed and footwork of Jacobs and for the first time in his career he was unable to get the stoppage. Similar to Beterbiev who was used to KOing guys now he had to learn how to win rounds for the first time in his career, due to fighting the most highly skilled guy he ever fought up to that point.

 

Not in the slightest. Beterbievs power was more of an accumulation power - and key for me - he could generate power with very little travel and without loading up, so he could throw VERY hard shots all night at a relentless pace.

A combination of Artur's engine naturally slowing down and Bivol being an elite defensive boxer that rarely gets tagged clean means that Artur's power and relentlessness at age 40 simply wasn't enough for once; but he pushed Bivol ALL THE WAY still.