Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev vs. Dmitrii Yurievich Bivol II

Aggressors win rounds. It's pro boxing. The amateurs is about landing more punches.

 

I'm just as hyped for this one as the first - I don't think many better match-ups can be made in boxing at the moment. Without checking, pretty sure I scored the first as a not-hugely-close win for Bivol, but I don't think this fight will look massively different and think Beterbiev will guard-punch his way to a UD on the cards, while I score it 116-112 the other way.

 

I'm thinking Beterbiev turns it up a notch this time.. Bivol looks like he can't make a dent in him.

 

I don't like Mayweather.

 

Not really. I thought he lost to Maidana and Castillo.

 

Had the first fight 115-113 for Beterbiev with Artur closing out winning 11 and 12 to get over the edge. I thought Bivol fought a great fight and did everything he is capable of. He had the movement, he had the output, he had the punch accuracy but I felt he just got ground down over the course of the fight. I don't know if Bivol can improve upon what he already did and Beterbiev is a what you see is what you get fighter and we know he brings it again. I favor Beterbiev to do what he did last time and wear Bivol down after a close 8 rounds.

Of course age or injury could strike or I could be massively underestimating the ability for Bivol to learn and improve. To me Bivol has always sort of fought at the same place and I just don't know if he has the extra gear and that's what cost him the first time. Also, the first fight was real close, 3 different judges could very well have had it a UD for Bivol. If the rematch plays out similar we could have another debated decision

The one thing that did not happen in the first fight that I suspect could happen is Bivol commits a little more which is risky. I do remember Yarde planting some big shots on Beterbiev that appeared to do damage. Obviously Bivol is not Yarde in terms of power but he does have the hand speed, accuracy and stamina to improve upon that.

Its interesting to think about this match as neither to my knowledge has ever had a rematch

 

The difference in the fight was Bivol couldn't find another gear. Remember when people said he cruised against Smith and Zurdo? It's because he did. Bivol needed to hit the throttle in rounds 11 and 12, but the extra gear never came.

 

In reality he wasn't ever tested in those fights minus getting rocked briefly. I'm not sure if he doesn't have the gear or never needed it prior and didn't know how to get there

I did listen to his recent interview with Dan Rafael and without specifics he did say he feels he could have done more and seems like he is prepared to make adjustments

Time will tell

 

Reminds me of Pacquiao Marquez. In the first couple fights Pacquiao just had a higher gear. Didn't look as crisp technically, but Marquez just simply didn't do enough. Sometimes your skills alone can't win you the fight. Sometimes you have to hit the Nas button and find that extra gear inside you. That's what Marquez finally did in the 4th fight to grab a victory. At some point you come across a fighter who you can't beat with skills alone. Sometimes you have to bring it.

 

With gvozdyk and Bivol, both fighters were bouncing combinations off Beterbievs big head to no avail, it’s a tough pill to take especially as the fight goes on and zero impact on Artur. Bivol could try and go on the offensive and hope for a Callum Johnson moment but then look what happened to Joe smith jr. He needs to box smart, start and finish rounds strong and hope to get his hand raised at the end

 

If Bivol is able to get a flash knockdown then that could sway things for him and be the deciding factor

 

I'll agree go with this opinion, Bivol can't hurt Beterbiev with his arm punches. Bivol could have clearly won the last fight but curled up like a snail in salt the last 2 rounds and in my opinion clearly lost as a result