Dmitrii Yuriyevich Bivol vs. Joshua Buatsi

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to once more educate Johnny Foreigner in the noble art of pugilism. Modesty forbids me pre-empting the result but it's a certainty that Ivan would not enjoy the experience. Alas, the most darned awful thing has happened, I plum forgot my running togs. I've sent my manservant back to Holler Towers to find them but in the meantime I'll have to take a backseat on this affair as an unforeseen incident in my Zambian ranch requires my prompt attendance...

 

Did people actually expect this? No one in any position of power or influence wants this. There's too many big promoters/networks with ranked contenders/mandatories who can get shots out of Beterbiev and Bivol over and over again. The fight itself isn't that big either outside of hardcore fans or those with a national/ethnic/religious interest

Bivol-Buatsi is a good fight not because I'm a deluded Brit who thinks Buatsi will win, but because he's a talented youngster who is extremely inactive, injury prone and possibly halfway out of boxing in general. This is basically last-chance salloon and Eddie's cashing him out. Even if Bivol wins it will help build Bivol's profile even more, and if Bivol beats Canelo a second time, it would also help Bivol become a moderate draw who just so happens to be a DAZN staple

This is not aimed at you but one of the things I've noticed among forum-savvy boxing fans is this ''err this fight doesn't make 100% sense therefore I wish no fight was happening instead!''. Well yeah I would prefer 175 undisputed in summer but it's not going to happen, and who else would Bivol fight? Buatsi will probably do better than Zurdo anyway. I think DAZN are wank but they're putting on some decent non-PPV fights and I'm happy

 

Buatsi will have to make Bivol fight his fight which I don't see happening .

 

Bivol is a chicken ****.

 

Buatsi by DQ after Bivol lands a punch on his face.

 

Buatsi decided to fight so infrequently because he used to go on holiday after every fight including early on in his career. You are basically describing Frank Warren…

 

You are speaking like a promoter not a boxing fan. Beterbiev and Bivol are the two best fighters in the division and they need to fight each other to prove who is the best, preferably before Beterbiev gets any older as he is already 38. Patience would be understandable if Beterbiev had lots of time but he doesn't. If the undisputed fight is not going to happen this year or early 2024 at the latest Beterbiev may as well just retire. If they keep on feeding him big punchers like Joe Smith, Yarde, Callum Smith eventually one of them will clip him and he'll lose due to age and wear and tear, so he may as well just call it a day if that big fight is not gonna happen.

 

This is a very astute piece of analysis IMHO.

I agree that Buatsi could develop into a pretty good fighter, but it depends on how things go. Eddie is betting that a UD loss to Bivol won't really hurt him, just like losing to Floyd didn't hurt Canelo.

I also think that Eddie is worried that Bivol will lose to Beterbiev, I believe he is pushing out the fight to protect Bivol (of course Bivol could well beat Beterbiev and many of us would pick him, but there is risk for sure and Eddie doesn't want to take that risk).

 

Buatsi has 1 fight left with Matchroom and Hearn wouldn’t mind losing him since he sells no tickets and doesn’t fight regularly. I’m not sure whether his heart is in the game either.

Hearn is in a great position with Buatsi fighting Bivol and he has Callum Smith read to fight Beterbiev as WBC mandatory.

 

This will be a great fight and Bivol’s toughest challenge to date. If Buatsi sticks to Virgil Hunter’s game plan he can pull it off but perhaps the undisputed fight might happen before this?

 

The ESB polls don’t determine the outcome of fights that just people’s opinions. Yes. Bivol but to think the talented Buatsi now trained by Virgil Hunter cannot win this is a bridge too far. This will be a close fight that Can go either way. If Buatsi can implement the tactics of his Coach Virgil Hunter then he will win if not he won’t win. Simple as that.