Is Beterbiev the hardest hitting Light Heavyweight ever?

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Bob Ajisafe

'He's very strong, very tough. Hits very hard with a lot of power. I think he's definitely going to be one to watch in the division. I don't think there's many who could last with him.''

What is it about Beterbiev that makes him so good?

''It's his power. I mean sometimes you box with him or out box him but sooner or later he's going to catch you with one of those big shots and he's just got so much power for a light-heavyweight.''

Blake Caparello

Beterbiev has sparred recently with Bob Ajisafe and Blake Caparello, who believes Campillo (25-6-1, 12 KO) is in for a brief outing. "I really think it will be a short night for Campillo,"

Caparello said. "This guy has some incredible brute force. He could even chase and hunt down a strong Sergey Kovalev in the ring''

“I do believe experiences like this will help me grow not only as a fighter but also my reputation,” said Caparello in closing. “Artur Beterbiev has a good reputation as being a beast and not many sparring partners can go with him''

Oleksandr Usyk

Q: Oleksandr, you won most everything as an amateur, including the gold at the 2012 Olympics. Who would you say gave you your hardest fight as an amateur?

Oleksandr Usyk: “Well, all those fights, they all took place within the last couple of years or so, so it’s hard to say. Maybe, if I was pushed to say, it was Artur Beterbiev of Russia who gave me my roughest fight. He is very aggressive and he does hit very hard.”

Gabriel Campillo

“Kovalev is in his prime and we don’t know how long that will last but there is also Artur Beterbiev who is very strong, for sure he was the hardest puncher that I fought. I would favour Kovalev in that fight but anything can happen with a strong guy like Beterbiev.”

Someone posted this on another forum

''I've heard scary stuff about this guy from behind gym doors, including a high HIGH praise and a glowing endorsement from Ovill Mckenzie who has been in his camps, said he will win world title within 10 fights without question''

Seanie Monaghan

'Seanie Monaghan recently spent some time sparring Beterbiev and he was very impressed.

Damn @IcemanScully your boy Beterbiev is an absolute Wrecking Machine! It's like trying to step out on a highway and box with a Macktruck'

Jean Pascal

Pascal is convinced that despite Beterbiev's short experience as a pro, he will be ready for Tavoris Cloud.

Pascal: ''Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if he knocks Cloud out.''

Artur Beterbiev is renowned for his power, as Pascal confirms.

Pascal: ''Artur is a brute, I remember the first time we sparred, he hit me so hard my neck hurt for a week. He's a very big puncher, he's very strong physically but he's also very smart.''

Callum Johnson

'Britain's Callum Johnson's stock rose in a four-round loss to Beterbiev - he then admitted things that boxers very rarely say.

"His reputation got to me," Johnson told Sky Sports. "He was pound-for-pound No 1 in the amateurs, that beast that nobody wanted to fight, and he took that into the pros.

"When the realisation sets in of where I was, and who I was up against, I let it get to me.

"I said to my brother-in-law on the day of the fight: 'People don't have a clue what I'm up against'.

"He's a beast. I came second to the best that there is.

"He got me. That's all there is to it."

"He's not just your normal, average world champion. He is a pound-for-pound fighter."

Russ Anber

I posed this question to Russ Anber, a trainer who helps Marc Ramsay with Beterbiev, and has worked in the corners of Sergio Martinez, Roy Jones Jr., and Jean Pascal. He drew on his 36 years in the boxing biz, and was straightforward with his appraisal of the Russian, a two-time Olympian.

"Beterbiev is almost too good to be true," Anber told me of the fighter, who resides with his wife and kids in Montreal. "Technically, he's a complete student of the game, old school. He's university educated, understands biomechanics. His style is strength, imposition, but he's complete. He's as strong as a heavyweight, spars heavyweights here, like Oscar Rivas. He's the kind of guy, he comes into the gym, he doesn't turn the music on, he turns it off. He goes to the body, his infighting is good. And he's beaten Sergey Kovalev in the amateurs twice!"

"This is the most complete boxer I've seen up close," Anber continued. "It's an effin privilege to be with him. His mental approach is that of a spartan. And I mean, he's the sort of guy you'd want your daughter to bring home. It's almost too good to be true."

Yvon Michel

How impressed are you with the rapid progress of Artur Beterbiev?

Look, he is really impressive in every aspect of what you dream of for a fighter. He has a personality; he is an intelligent person, he’s a family man. He has strength, power, speed, technique and dedication. The only thing that is missing is experience and we’re working on it. It’s a huge step (facing Cloud), we understand that, but we’ve seen him spar, I’ve had reports from his strength and conditioning coach, his trainer Marc Ramsey, who trains a lot of high performance fighter. Everything is telling me that we have an exceptional fighter on our hands

Andre Kulesza

Who is Beterbiev's strength and condition coach

One last word that Andre Kulesza. This guy was coach with the greatest athletes in the world. Including Lucian Bute, a beast of training.

"Phfff, it does not compare. That's what I've seen stronger in my life. It is measured scientifically. The recovery time, strength, relaxation. Artur Beterbiev is in a class by itself. "

Todd duBoef

"He is a complete, absolute beast! Anything in front of him, he takes down.

"He disregards 'who' or 'where'. If you're in front of him, goodbye. That's it.

"Like Vasiliy Lomachenko, Beterbiev wants to fight the best and has no issue with where a fight might be."

 

Steven Geffrard

''Sparring Artur was a great learning experience. That guy…he’s a beast. He has devastating power. I worked with Eleider Alvarez, the Colombian who was stopped by Joe Smith. I also helped Kovalev with several camps. I thought he hit hard.

“But Beterbiev…that guy he has a whole different type of power. And he keeps this poker face on the whole time. He cuts the ring off — he’s a beast.”

“I know the toughest sparring and hardest situation I’ve ever been in with sparring and stuff is Artur Beterbiev,” Geffrard said. “That guy’s an animal. I went to Montreal. I was pretty much his main sparring partner for his whole camp when he fought ‘Hot Rod.’ We sparred three times a week. Yeah, man, that guy’s a beast.”

''Beterbiev is a devastating puncher. I've fought over 150 times as an amateur all over the world and been in camps with a lot of world champions like Kovalev and Beterbiev just hits like no other''

FTR, in addition to fighting Joe Smith and sparring Beterbiev and Kovalev, Geffrard has also sparred, among others, Chad Dawson, Glen Johnson, and Eleider Alvarez, was the #1 ranked amateur HW in the US for a couple of years and he fought two time world amateur champion Clemente Russo, Michael ''The Bounty'' Hunter a bunch of times, beat Andrew Tabiti, Thomas Williams Jr., and US international representative Sijuola Shabazz, Donovan Denis, Jordan Shimmell, Joshua Temple, Travis Peterkin, and David Imoesiri

Marc Ramsay

“No matter if the fight is short or long, Artur will fight like hell in every round, promised Marc Ramsay, Beterbiev’s trainer. I know that a lot of boxing fans in Canada are worried to see Beterbiev, who has only five pro bouts, face one of the biggest name on the international scene. But not me. I am working every day in the gym with Artur. I know how much this fighter is great and mature. Andre Kulesha, our physical education’s specialist, told me he never worked with a fighter stronger and resistant like Artur. Cloud has no idea how much Berterbiev is good, strong physically and resistant. Trust me, Artur has the stamina to attack from the first to the 12 rounds if it's necessary.”

"Beterbiev was winning as an amateur with a professional style which is not common," Ramsay told Sky Sports. "I saw the transition would be easy for him. I saw not just a world champion but a superstar."

The brute force of Beterbiev was apparent when Ramsay first held the pads for him: "It is something special. He is pound-for-pound a huge puncher.

"The thing with Beterbiev… every single punch hurts. The jab, a check left hook, just technical things but they still hurt. Everything he throws hurts."

Finding sparring partners for someone who knocks out all of his opponents is a thankless task that Ramsay describes as "horrible". Beterbiev spars at full tilt to the extent where surviving as his sparring partner is a nightmare.

"We sent back home a lot of guys because they get hurt," Ramsay sighs. "I can see some guys just won't last.

"I ask them to do a maximum of four rounds with Beterbiev.

"I find a way to finish 12 rounds of sparring somehow."

Lionell Thompson

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“He’s like my idol,” Thompson gushed. “The best I’ve ever been in the ring with, and the person I imagine myself being as a fighter. He used to call me up, fly me to Montreal; we’d spar three days a week. That man is not somebody you jump into the ring with for shits and giggles. I’ve never been hit that hard in my life, and I’ve been hit with weapons. He can physically change you on an accident — not even meaning to, on an accident.

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Andre Ward

“I’m not a guy that normally leans towards a puncher,” said Ward. “I’m a guy that wants a fighter to have multiple things he can fall back on in case that punch doesn’t bail him out. But Beterbiev is a little bit different. I’ve called his fights, watched him, and studied him. He’s different.

“He throws his body into every punch. He’s physically a hard man and he’s strong. He hits extremely hard, and he doesn’t even have to hit you clean. He can graze you, and you can have problems. But he’s also an underrated boxer.

“He has over 300 amateur fights and he comes up from the Soviet system. He’s a lot better skilfully than people give him credit for him and he’s going to be a hard guy to beat.”

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''Top level guys getting knocked down one by one. They're lasting two or three rounds... one goes down they call the next one in. Crazy!''

One of the YT comments for the video

''Beterbiev was in my gym for a couples months. Let me say that im surprised by your comments about him in the video because he was the coolest, the nicest guy in the room . He was joking around all the time i swear BUTTTTT , WHEN ITS TIME TO SPARRRRR, he was knocking everybody out lool''

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John ''Iceman'' Scully

''This fight proves what I told you before this weekend anyone who thinks Beterbiev is just a face first slugger is either very ignorant to boxing or has not paid attention simply not knowing what they are looking at. This fight clearly highlighted that Artur has boxing skills. If one does not see his skills pay more attention.''

“But, let me tell you every sparring partner I speak with, after they box with Artur, says the same thing, ‘he makes the ring so small and he is very hard to get away from’'

''Let me tell you, we had solid sparring but it was difficult getting him sparring partners. There are guys who don’t want to even spar him. There not even as many guys as there were years ago it is what it is.''

''Right! Beterbiev’s mentality is destruction! He wants you dead and will do anything to make that happen. What everyone must realize is that Beterbiev is a technical fighter. I’ve heard some say that Beterbiev is just a big puncher and that he can’t box. These guys are not paying attention! If a fighter doesn’t have the obvious skills like Roy Jones Jr, like anyone can see him and within seconds say wow he’s really good, then you must know what to look at. Those who claim that Beterbiev is a just a puncher are complete idiots. They simply don’t know what they are seeing. Beterbiev is very technical, very calculated but again his desire for you to be unconscious overrules a lot of stuff. His positioning, his power and his pressure are masterful. He’s very sharp in that ring.

''Plenty of sparring partners have said they thought Beterbiev was just a puncher, a bruiser. After one sparring session, they all say Beterbiev is a smart fighter. Beterbiev’s positioning, thoughts and counters… he’s very intelligent. Many don’t understand what to look.''

''It’s like I just said those who have sparred Beterbiev come out say they had no idea! They had to be inside that ring to see up close what Beterbiev does.''

''Artur hitting guys flush... that’s a big problem, it really is. I have spoken to all of Artur’s sparring partners and each and every one of them has said he’s the hardest puncher they have sparred.''

"I've heard stories that I've never heard about any other fighter. Bone crushing power. He can't spar 3 minute rounds they have to cut it half and he got to wear huge gloves. Guys don't even show up to spar".

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