Dmitrii Yurievich Bivol vs. Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev & Jai Opetaia vs. Jack Massey RBR.

He said that, but I think his corner pretty clearly did think he was losing and needed to step it up and press the action more. And he certainly got that message and did that in the late rounds.

 

Not 10-8. I remembered clearly the commentators saying round 10 was a Bivol round and thinking, these guys are ruining boxing. Fairly clear Beterbiev round.

 

Bivol was also oddly even pressing forward repeatedly right into AB with his arms up, as if to say "look I'm walking forward, i'm not running away any more" even though his gloves were up.

 

Because he does. He isn't known for putting on a boxing clinic. He is known for losing rnds and putting the other guy to sleep late.

 

I predicted before the fight that the difference would be the power. And I was correct. When Beterbiev landed he hurt Bivol. When Bivol landed Beterbiev walked through it.

 

That could also be true.

 

OK but even before Compubox released its stats, from memory it did seem like Round 11 was a far more dominant round for AB than Round 10. And the Compubox #s just so happen to back that view.

 

He landed a good amount of flush shots on Beterbiev and his defence was solid (defence also being a scoring criteria)

 

No they actually said that bivol was coming on strong or something but they clearly meant Beterbiev, I noticed that too

 

On that point, it's true. Beterbiev power did seem to wear Bivol down. But on the other hand, his power never really seemed to cause Bivol to be in major trouble at any point, despite the fact that some predicted a KO. Bivol was never rocked or anything, he never really grimaced in paint to any Beterbiev punch, even the body shots. So I think that Bivol showed he is a good chin and good punch resistance generally, but I do think that he was worn down by the thudding punches even though most hit gloves. Perhaps it was the body shots that really affected Bivol. The body shots may have been the biggest difference in the fight. Those body shots were probably what really slowed Bivol down even though most of them weren't really that noticeable while watching it.

 

He was bothered enough by the power that he was going backwards the entire fight.

 

In fairness that was his strategy from the beginning. But moreso in the late rounds when AB really applied more pressure, Bivol had no answer and was keen to cover up and survive at that point.

 

In my mind I remember bivol doing nothing at all in 10 and feeling like he might be susceptible to getting knocked out in 11 but he came out strong and had some success, I had him taking that round but it was the closest round in the fight and I could have easily been influenced by my appreciation for the work Bivol did in the previous rounds

 

As I said, I had my questions answered. While it pains you to admit that I am right, this is the reality of the business we are in.

 

Moving backwards to his preferred range. The reason one fighter moves backward and the other forward is that one guy prefers a shorter range for engaging - its not a walking forward competition.