Did Bivol duck (and age out) Beterbiev until now?

Kovalev was washed up by the time Beterbiev was champion

 

Bivol has been champion for 7 years and never fought another champion

Matchroom protected him.

 

IMO the main factors in this are NOT either boxer, but the promoters on either side

+ Arum has been on record numerous times poo-pooing the Bivol unification saying there was no money to make it and no interest
+ Hearn chased - and got - the Canelo fight for Bivol, and whilst I'd have preferred the Beterbiev fight, i understand what Hearn did - it did more for Bivol's profile (and bank balance no doubt) than probably all his other fights combined
+ The fight is happening right now because of Turki putting the money up, plain and simple.

Look at Beterbiev and Gvodzyk - they fought for very little moolah and reward considering how great a fight it was at the time, and I think Arum changed his outlook after that, with both Arum and Hearn seeing Bivol and Beterbiev respectively as high risk opponents that could upset their fighters apple cart.

Does anyone really think that Bivol or Beterbiev didn't want to unify, Bivol was talking about wanting to unify in 2018/19 but his promoter and Arturs did not seem to want to make that happen - then covid hit, plus there were injuries after etc, then of course there was the postponement earlier in the year.

Whilst I think Bivol has healthy respect for Beterbiev, I don't think he fears him and sees it as the best challenge on whether his 'skills pay the bills' or not.

Just glad that - regardless of who it is - the money has been put up and the fight is coming to pass now.

https://www.boxingnews24.com/2022/0...t-an-option-for-beterbiev-vs-smith-jr-winner/
https://3kingsboxing.com/bob-arum-will-not-push-bivol-beterbiev-fight/

 

Bivol via Points.

End of discussion.

Bring it on!!

 

Here is some definitive proof that Bivol didn't duck Beterbiev:

Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol possible for August in St. Petersburg (February 2020)
https://www.boxingnews24.com/2020/0...-possible-for-august-in-st-petersburg-russia/

In February 2020, they had plans to fight in August of 2020, in Russia. Right after the plans were announced, the whole world went into lockdown.

There were 2 instances when this fight could have happened. In late 2020 and in 2023. Both instances were derailed by factors they can't control, the first being COVID and the 2nd being the WBC.

So stop it with the ducking nonsense and just be glad that the fight is happening next week.

 

Pretty sure Zurdo was considered a top fighter when Bivol beat him.

This content is protected

 

There really wasn't much interest about the idea of Beterbiev and Bivol facing each other until around 2019 when Beterbiev destroyed Gvozdyk. At that time people were still unsure just how good Beterbiev was until he showed he was more than just a puncher but also a very good technician. Then we had Bivol beating Canelo in an upset win later on. By the time Bivol beat Canelo and Ramirez in 2022 that was when the fans really wanted to see Bivol and Beterbiev fight knowing full well now just how good both these guys are.

Could Beterbiev and Bivol have faced each other at a much earlier time? Sure. But I'm certain that it wouldn't have generated as much hype or interest had they fought as early as 2017-2019. It also didn't help that the WBC's insistence on Beterbiev facing Callum Smith and Yarde to keep his belts, and Beterbiev's injuries kept pushing the fight back. Let's just be thankful that these two are finally fighting this weekend. The wait has been too long but at least it'll be worth it.

 

This has been a LHW norm.

Roy Jones and Dariusz Michalczewski circled each other and never got around to fighting.

Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev did the exact same thing.

Bivol and Beterbiev had the Covid lockdown, the wbc Russian ban, and injuries that kind of stalled this fight. Neither guy has had any horrible performances or lost so it’s still the top of the chain.

 

He definitely did. He kinda fudged it though because he wasted time vying for the Canelo rematch. Oh well, it's happening now.

 

Don't forget the "mandatories" that had to take place. Mauricio Sulaiman pretty much forced Beterbiev to fight Anthony Yarde and then Callum Smith afterwards. Beterbiev also had that tooth extraction issue that also withheld him from fighting the rest of 2023. Hoping that the lingering injuries haven't taken a toll on Beterbiev and he comes in just as sharp as he was against Smith going into the Bivol fight.

I'm just glad this isn't going to be similar to RJJ/DM, Gamboa/Lopez and Kovalev/Stevenson. Still mad that those fights never came to fruitiion.

 

That's the difference here. These two atleast are fighting whilst at the top of the division. And I'm super hyped for the fight.

But the problem now is no result will ever convince me that Beterbiev wouldn't have won in his prime.

 

Very well said. Bivol isn't the kind of fighter that would intentionally prolong negotiations and wait out a fighter to get old overtime before finally agreeing to fight.

I recall around 2018 most people saw Bivol as merely just a title holder with good boxing skills but nothing else. Around that time people were focused on Kovalev, Stevenson, Beterbiev while Bivol was seen as the weak link compared to the rest. After Gvozdyk sent Stevenson into permanent retirement people were wanting to see Kovalev, Gvozdyk, and Beterbiev to go at it against each other. Then Canelo comes into the picture, fights Kovalev and knocks him out for his title. Meanwhile Beterbiev beats Gvozdyk in a unification fight. Following that COVID happens and disrupts everything. Canelo chooses to not face any of the other belt holders of 175, vacates the title and instead goes right back down to 168 to fight Callum Smith. Meanwhile Joe Smith takes the vacated title and defends it once before losing it to Beterbiev. Canelo again comes into the picture and challenges Bivol for his title, perhaps believing that he would be the easiest opponent to win a strap at 175. Instead Bivol flips the script and beats Canelo in an upset. By 2022 Beterbiev now has 3 titles while Bivol has 1. It was only by 2022 that Bivol was now seen as this highly elite fighter after beating Canelo and Ramirez and 2023 was the perfect time to make that fight happen. Then WBC steps in to make Beterbiev fight his mandatories along with tooth extraction and knee injury that kept the fight from happening.

A string of events such as Canelo, COVID, WBC mandatories, and Beterbiev's constant injuries were the main causes of the fight taking too long to take place. I don't believe Bivol nor Beterbeiv had any intentions of avoiding each other at any given moment in time. It's unfortunate that the wait had to be prolonged but it is what it is. Fans should rejoice that the fight is finally taking place and neither fighter seemed to have lost a step from their last fights. It's not going to be a Mayweather/Pacquiao scenario where one fighter had a career setback before the biggest fight happened. Both fighters are still unbeaten and the top fighters of the division and it's why this will still be a huge legacy fight.

 

Typo, it was meant to say The Top fighter.

 

Probably