Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev vs Dmitrii Yurievich Bivol II & Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov RBR.

A lot of rounds were close. I had Bivol the clear winner though.

I'm gonna re-watch the main later, and I missed the earlier bouts so I'll catch up with those too

And yes, both fighters are elite. Their styles gel really well. I'd be up for a 3rd scrap if it happens.

 

Bivol won clear last night 116-112 or 115-113 accurate. I'm a big Bivol fan and had him losing 115-113 first fight as he threw away the championship rounds. What a great performance lastnight - was landing one extra punch in the combinations all night

 

This is in perfect alignment with how i see it.Also a huge Bivol fan who had him losing the first fight 115 - 113.Scored last nights fight by the same score but this time for Bivol

 

Rematch???? Are you kidding. I never want to watch either of these talentless fighters again. Especially against each other. (This is in reference to the Adames-Shareez stinker. Not the excellent main event)

 

I really enjoyed this event I’d happily drop 25 for more of these

 

I do.

I'd rather Adames face Janibek next or Lara, but Sheeraz is next best choice for me.

 

You’ve got to hand it to Turki. They spend a massive amount of money putting this event together, have to hold it at a small stadium locally because Saudi’s aren’t into boxing that much yet, sell the PPV for only $25… and then as soon as it’s over, just post up the event for free. Most ridiculous fan friendly **** I’ve ever seen

 

the Mexican market (both in Mexico itself and for Mexican-Americans) is massive. Hell, Mexican-American fans are probably single handedly propping up the US market for fights. So I get it. Kind of lame the man can’t come out to what he’d like — especially when he’s a fun guy to watch fight — but it makes business sense. Mariachi or Norteño is the mass market appeal music there.

I actually quite like old school Norteño.

 

Turki is doing a lot to promote and keep the sport alive.

Imagine the boxing scene without him.

 

Interesting that post fight, Beterbiev said "that he didn't want the 2nd fight" (why?).

Here is the exact quote.

"I didn't want the second fight, it wasn't my choice, but no problem. We can do a third fight if we need to," Beterbiev, who suffered his first pro loss in 22 fights, said".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/articles/cwyd1wz320vo

Anybody got any idea why, without trolling, he didn't want the 2nd fight? I'm guessing from his quote that he was contractually obliged to fight.

He doesn't seem 100% sure on Fight #3, either.

Surprised that this has been missed by many. Retirement in his mind maybe?

 

PPVs are usually £25 here in the UK but Turki has them on, with a far far superior product, for just £20.

I know that you guys stateside regularly got fleeced with PPVs of $80, $90 in recent times so (1) you must be overjoyed now (2) angry at your previous over priced charges.

When DAZN came onto the scene with "Game Changed", they obviously weren't referencing Turki.

Turki has changed the game. Full stop.

Lastly, last nights atmosphere was vastly improved from what I was hearing.

Anyway, Nakatani v Cuellar tomorrow morning (10am) in the UK. Spoilt.

 

He's 40. He's been boxing a long time.

He trains like a maniac and is always in shape.

That takes its toll.

I would not be surprised if his next fight is his last.

Reflecting on the fight last night, we saw two very high level, closely matched competitors in there.

The difference being one was just a little "fresher" than the other.

It's not easy for any 40-year old boxer to chase down a mover like Bivol for 12 rounds.

 

I don’t think he confidently felt he won the first fight, and realized that there’s not a lot he could’ve done differently in the 2nd fight to win more convincingly.

 

he’s already made enough to retire in luxury from the last two. Pretty easy to see him thinking “enough already”. But, with another massive payday calling, if the man has a family, also pretty easy to see him being like “ugh, ok, I’ll do this one last time, see if I can avenge this loss”.

 

Yep. I think you are right.