Artur Beterbiev says he expects his rematch with Dmitry Bivol to be a very different fight when they meet in a rematch on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) will defend his undisputed light heavyweight championship for the first time after capturing the last belt he needed to earn that distinction against Bivol on Oct. 12 in a 12-round majority decision .
Rematch strategies
While Bivol says he should move more in the rematch than he did in the first fight, Beterbiev seems to be going in the other direction, hinting at being more aggressive early on. Artur gave away many of the early rounds by not attacking Bivol.
Once Beterbiev went on the attack, it was one-sided, chasing Bivol around the ring, hitting him with hard shots and handling his constant holds. It was pretty clear that Dmitry didn’t have the fight in him when he was under attack.
Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), his promoter Eddie Hearn and fans still believe he deserved the win based on his technical skills, but the judges saw it differently. They scored 115-112, 116-112 to Beterbiev and 114-114.
“I think he is right. We already know how each of us fights. We have seen each other,” Artur Beterbiev told the media, reacting to being told that Kostya Tszyu said he expects his rematch with Dmitry Bivol will be a completely different type of match. “I think of course it will be a different match.
“Some things can be fixed and improved. Well, his [Bivol] punches are those of a boxer. I probably won’t move up there,” Beterbiev said of a fight between him and Oleksandr Usyk. “From a sporting perspective, I would be interested in that fight because we boxed in the Olympics [2012] and the World Championships.
“It would be interesting to try as professionals. Not for money, although money is nice. But my interest in this match would be purely sporting. Much more than money.
Early Aggression
There won’t be much difference in the rematch other than Beterbiev attacking immediately and Bivol moving in circles for three minutes of each round. Dmitry won’t try to fight because he was hurt the last time he tried and he has neither the strength nor the guts to fight Beterbiev. So he will try to win a decision by hitting and running.
“It’s surprising to me how he changes his attitude,” Beterbiev said of Terence Crawford. “It’s amazing that he’s not a southpaw but can switch both ways. He even said he’s doing some drills he’s seen from me,” Beterbiev said.
