Even though I thought Bivol won we must remember Beterbiev is 40 coming off a knee injury

Never said he sucks. Said he wasn't great. Just a good fighter. More Cotto level than Pacquiao level.

 

Well the narrative was set. Bivol is the master sublime boxer and Beterbiev is an old man with a bum knee. Beterbiev showed much more than Bivol given the expectations for both. Beterbiev shut him down and controlled the dance. That's boxing.

 

OK....He isn't a great fighter but it was impressive. Man I can't stop laughing at that.

 

I'm not sure prime AB would have brutalized Bivol because Bivol would always be difficult to find and hurt. And even though Beterbiev is coming off injuries, I'm not sure those injuries really would change how he would fight too much. People see a more cautious AB, they could say that's due to coming off injuries or maybe that was him being super cautious knowing that he's fighting the most highly skilled fighter he ever fought. Which was a good strategy by the way, at least given the result.

If both have slowed down from where they were a year or two ago, which seems plausible, then maybe an earlier fight between the two actually favors Bivol. Maybe Bivol from a year or two ago doesn't tire as much. I mean the people Beterbiev KO'd did not have the skills of Bivol. I think even a younger Beterbiev would have a hard time hurting a younger Bivol who maybe doesn't gas or tire as much, maybe a younger Bivol has more gas in the tank late and finishes the fight stronger than he did tonight.

But rather than focus on what this fight might have looked like years ago, for better or worse, here we are. And the question I have is can Bivol make adjustments and come into the rematch more motiviated to make a bigger statement next time. I'm sure Bivol realizes that for as well as he fought, he did clearly tire and was worn down. Maybe he has to train harder for a rematch, because he didn't seem to be quite as fit as he's been in the past. And some of that could have been due to Beterbiev, but I'm not so sure.

 

Hearn just said everybody he spoke to on press row scored it for Bivol

 

The fight was great, only a rematch makes sense because both of them stand out from the others in the division and have no competition.

 

I think that's harsh - personally I would rather give credit for Arturs drop in the mid-rounds to Bivol keeping him honest and being accurate and elusive.

Just like folks being overly critical of Fury after the Usyk fight, it detracts from the winner IMO.

Artur is clearly a unique and special fighter, and Bivol forced him to really dig out his best in the championship rounds, forced him to see the bell for the first time ever, and clearly outboxed him in significant spells of the fight; you can't do that to Beterbiev and merely just be good!

Yoursel and many of the other folks really high on Beterbiev were predicting a mid-round / late TKO, even knowing that Bivol's movement and defence made that a tall order for Artur.

Credit where credit's due IMO.