WBC Special Preview: Beterbiev vs Bivol
WBC STATISTICS
WBC Light Heavyweight World Championship
Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship
October 12, 2024 / Riyadh, Saudi Arabia / Kingdom Arena
RIYADH SEASON, MATCHROOM BOXING & TOP RANK PRESENT:
ARTUR BETERBIEV
WBC Light heavyweight world champion, 6th title defense
Unified Lt. Heavyweight Champion
Age: 39 / Date of birth: January 21, 1985
Record: 20-0, 20 KOs / Total rounds: 98 / World championship fights: 9-0, 9 KOs
Height: 5’11.5” – 182cm / Reach: 73” – 185cm / Stance: Right-handed
Manager: Self-managed / Trainer: Marc Ramsay
DMITRY BIVOL
Age: 33 / Date of birth: December 18, 1990
Record: 23-0, 12 KOs / Total rounds: 190 / World championship fights: 12-0, 2KOs
Height: 6’0” – 183cm / Reach: 72” – 183cm / Stance: Right-handed
Manager: Vadim Kornilov / Trainer: Gennady Mashianov
WBC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONS:
1. Harold Johnson (US) 1963
2. Willie Pastrano (US) 1963 – 1965
3. Jose Torres (P. Rico) 1965 – 1966
4. Dick Tiger (Nigeria) 1966 – 1968
5. Bob Foster (US) 1968 – 1974
6. John Conteh (GB) 1974 – 1977
7. Miguel Angel Cuello (Arg) 1977 – 1978
8. Mate Parlov (Yugoslavia) 1978
9. Marvin Johnson (US) 1978 – 1979
10. Matthew Saad Muhammad (US) 1979 – 1981
11. Dwight Muhammad Qawi (US) 1981 – 1983
12. Michael Spinks (US) 1983 – 1985
13. J.B. Williamson (US) 1985 – 1986
14. Dennis Andries (GB) 1986 – 1987
15. Thomas Hearns (US) 1987
16. Don LaLonde (CAN) 1987 – 1988
17. Ray Leonard (US) 1988
18. Dennis Andries (GB) 1989 *
19. Jeff Harding (Australia) 1989 – 1990
20. Dennis Andries (GB) 1990 – 1991 *
21. Jeff Harding (Australia) 1991 – 1994 *
22. Mike McCallum (Jamaica) 1994 – 1995
23. Fabrice Tiozzo (Fra) 1995 – 1996
24. Roy Jones Jr. (US) 1996 – 1997
25. Montell Griffin (US) 1997
26. Graciano Rocchigiani (Ger) (Int.) 1998
27. Roy Jones Jr. (US) 1997 – 2003 *
28. Antonio Tarver (US) 2003
29. Roy Jones Jr. (US) 2003 – 2004 *
30. Antonio Tarver (US) 2004 *
31. Tomasz Adamek (Poland) 2005 – 2007
32. Chad Dawson (US) 2007 – 2008
33. Adrian Diaconu (Rom/Can) 2008 – 2009
34. Jean Pascal (Haiti/Canada) 2009 – 2011
35. Chad Dawson (US) Interim 2009 – 2010 *
36. Bernard Hopkins (US) 2011 – 2012
37. Chad Dawson (US) 2012 – 2013*
38. Adonis Stevenson (Haiti/Can) 2013 – 2018
39. Oleksandr Gvozdyk (Ukraine) 2018 – 2019
40. Artur Beterbiev (Canada) 2019 –
* Regained
WBC TOP 10 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONS
1. Roy Jones Jr. (US)
2. Bernard Hopkins (US)
3. Bob Foster (US)
4. Michael Spinks (US)
5. Adonis Stevenson (Haiti/Canada)
6. Mike McCallum (Jamaica)
7. Jose Torres (Puerto Rico)
8. Dick Tiger (Nigeria)
9. Matthew Saad Muhammad (US)
10. Chad Dawson (US)
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION IN WBC HISTORY:
32 light heavyweight world champions have been recognized by the WBC, of whom only five have regained the title: Dennis Andries (GB) two times, Jeff Harding (Australia), Roy Jones Jr. (US) two times, Antonio Tarver (US), and Chad Dawson (US) two times.
123 light heavyweight world championship fights have been held in WBC history.
Bob Foster (US) holds the record for light heavyweight world title defenses with 14.
MEMORABLE WBC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTS:
Jan. 13, 2024 Artur Beterbiev TKO7 Callum Smith – Québec City, Québec
Jan. 28, 2023 Artur Beterbiev TKO8 Anthony Yarde – London, England
June 18, 2022 Artur Beterbiev TKO2 Joe Smith Jr. – New York, New York
Dec. 17, 2021 Artur Beterbiev KO9 Marcus Browne – Montréal, Québec
Mar. 20, 2021 Artur Beterbiev TKO10 Adam Deines – Moscow, Russia
Oct. 18, 2019 Artur Beterbiev TKO10 Oleksandr Gvozdyk – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec. 1, 2018 Oleksandr Gvozdyk KO11 Adonis Stevenson – Québec City, Québec
May 19, 2018 Adonis Stevenson D12 Badou Jack – Toronto, Ontario
May 24, 2014 Adonis Stevenson W12 Andrzej Fonfara – Montréal, Québec
June 8, 2013 Adonis Stevenson KO1 Chad Dawson – Montréal, Québec
Apr. 28, 2012 Chad Dawson W12 Bernard Hopkins – Atlantic City, New Jersey
May 21, 2011 Bernard Hopkins W12 John Pascal – Montréal, Québec
Dec. 11, 2009 Jean Pascal W12 Adrian Diaconu – Montréal, Québec
Apr. 12, 2008 Chad Dawson W12 Glen Johnson – Tampa, Florida
May 21, 2005 Tomasz Adamek W12 Paul Briggs – Chicago, Illinois
May 15, 2004 Antonio Tarver TKO2 Roy Jones Jr. – Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov. 22, 1996 Roy Jones Jr. W12 Mike McCallum – Tampa, Florida
July 23, 1994 Mike McCallum W12 Jeff Harding – Bismarck, North Dakota
Nov. 7, 1988 Sugar Ray Leonard TKO9 Donny Lalonde – Las Vegas, Nevada
May 29, 1988 Donny Lalonde TKO5 Leslie Stewart – Port of Spain, Trinidad
Mar. 7, 1987 Thomas Hearns TKO10 Dennis Andries – Detroit, Michigan
Sep. 10, 1986 Dennis Andries TKO9 Tony Sibson – London, England
Mar. 18, 1983 Michael Spinks W15 Dwight Muhammad Qawi – Atlantic City, New Jersey
Dec. 19, 1981 Dwight Muhammad Qawi TKO10 Matthew Saad Muhammad – Atlantic City, New Jersey
Apr. 22, 1979 Matthew Saad Muhammad TKO8 Marvin Johnson – Indianapolis, Indiana
Oct. 9, 1976 John Conteh W15 Yaqui Lopez – Copenhagen, Denmark
May 24, 1968 Bob Foster KO4 Dick Tiger – New York, New York
Dec. 16, 1966 Dick Tiger W15 José Torres – New York, New York
Aug. 15, 1966 José Torres W15 Eddie Cotton – Las Vegas, Nevada
June 1, 1963 Willie Pastrano W15 Harold Johnson – Las Vegas, Nevada
Biv Vs Biff
By James Blears
Brooding light- heavy storm clouds are clustering and forming into a towering cumulus nimbus, looming on the horizon, forecasting the Artur Beterbiev VS Dmitry Bivol typhoon, which will break over our heads, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Instinctive Vs intuitive, power Vs guile, we’ve had to wait a while, for this marked contrast in fighting style.
It’s all at stake with literally everything to go for, so no holding back! Sitting comfortably, or perched on the edge of the seat?
Artur holds the WBC, IBF and WBO belts in his vice like grip, determined to complete the matching Undisputed Boxed Set, for the first time in the four belts era. In a rare humorous moment, he mischievously confided: ‘’That’s what I’d like to do…but don’t tell anyone.’’
Meanwhile, Dmitry who possesses the WBA version, is coveting the other three. Accordingly and thus, this is the supreme test, to gauge which of the two B’s has the more piquant sting, more intense willpower, and greater buzzsaw firepower via the stronger beating wings, which could prove mighty significant towards the tail end of this epic fight. It has all the makings and hallmarks of an awesome classic of the thus far undefeated, which will be remembered and talked about for many years to come.
Come what may and amidst the maelstrom of rounds, Artur has squarely turned the tables on each and every one of his twenty opponents. None have heard the soothing, melodic chime of the final bell. Yet, aged thirty- nine, he’s had to overcome trials and tribulations, involving a litany of injuries, which are increasingly blighting and affecting a body, which along with all the rest of us, is subject to the wear and tear of Mother Nature and Father time.
This one was pencilled in for June 1st. but Artur suffered a ruptured meniscus knee injury and underwent keyhole surgery. Prior to the Callum Smith clash, he went under the knife for an infected jaw, which had stemmed from and then developed out of a root canal procedure. The Anthony Yarde fight was put back due to an undisclosed injury. He picked up a rib injury before the Adam Deines encounter and there was a delay. So on and so forth!
Dmitry who is six years younger tartly and poignantly observes: ‘’Beterbiev is starting to fall apart and getting injured often. He is not a young guy and it’s not a joke any more. He’s almost forty years old. He’s been fighting since he got out of the crib. He’s had many injuries and many wars. You never know what kind of Beterbiev we’re going to see, especially after this latest injury.’’
The Artur he will encounter, will be ready, unhampered, tempered, honed and focused upon delivering an unremitting war of attrition, such as he’s never seen, encountered, experienced, weathered or endured, in all his born days. Former rival Anthony Yarde starkly stated: ‘’He takes away opponents’ souls. He beats them up, for however many rounds they last. He seemed human… until the end! He knows when to step off, when to take a breather. That’s one of the things that I’m learning.’’
Artur’s long-time Coach Marc Ramsay concurs: ‘’When you get older, you change a few things, or you cannot stay in boxing. He’s a better technical fighter than he was a couple of years ago. Maybe you lose a little something, but you gain a bit of something? He still tries to learn every day in the gym.’’
Artur’s greatest hour of glory came when he relieved hitherto undefeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk of the WBC Green and Gold Belt, to buckle it on and add it to his IBF strap. It was a titanic give and take encounter, during which both inflicted and absorbed eye watering blows. They stood their ground and traded!
The tide slowly but surely ebbed, flowed and turned, at the round eight point. Clusters of Arthur rights to the body had taken their toll and he kept upping the tempo. He kept coming! A torrid ninth followed and then in the tenth a short, crunching left to the head put Oleksandr down. Brave as lion, but weakened and as weary as a fireside kitten stretched out in the glow of the spitting, sizzling logs, he got up, bleary eyed and Arthur dropped him with a right. Again, he somehow clambered up from the crimson embers, to absorb another short clubbing right and this time after he went down, his number was up. Three canvass visits and you’re out!
In another cliff-hanger, a horrendous divot of a vertical gash on the forehead and a gusher of blood, following an accidental clash of heads with Marcus Browne in the fourth. It didn’t divert or deflect Artur’s intention, iron willpower or purpose one iota, as bloodied but unbowed, he pursued, persevered and powered on like a tractor-trailer, to TKO his exhausted, battered, bewildered and disillusioned opponent in the ninth.
The styles of Artur and Dmitry are markedly different, so will they complement or contrast each other? Whereas Bivol likes to pivot on the back and front foot, fluidly putting the full weight of his leg and body into a long-range punch, Beterbiev uses his tensile upper body strength, to inflict cluster bombs, which land from close range, with rumbling thuds and crumps, creating ruminating cracks. Both have fast and accurate hands. Artur’s are heavier.
Dmitry’s strategy will not only to be the first fighter who has gone and lasted the distance with Artur. Yet, he must go one better than that, by outwitting, outfoxing and outboxing him, in a cerebral quest for victory.
Against Canelo, Dmitry moved laterally and constantly, mixing up the pace, never allowing Saul to settle, set or anchor his feet to summon, plant or hue hafts of punches. He transformed retreat into attack, letting both of his hands go and using his stiff left jab to control the fight. An accurate and sneaky counter puncher, who judges distance with laser like, artful precision. Not easy to stick or pin, while his own coiled right is ever ready, to unleash, deliver and ruthlessly punish.
When fighting Gilberto ‘’Zurdo’’ Ramirez, Dmitry used speed and fancy footwork to fluidly move and then pepper the bigger, but so much slower man, often backing him up. Very doubtful if he could do this to Artur for a sustained spell.
Question is, whether Dmitry will be able to hold off the onslaught of Arthur, who doesn’t give opponents time to concentrate, contemplate, snatch a break or re-group, pressuring them into mistakes they wouldn’t normally commit. He’s on them, stays on them and batters away, often as not without respite, especially after he’s found an opening, to jaggedly widen and deepen. Undeterred, he seemingly doesn’t apparently give a tinker’s curse, just so long as he can get in his dose of brimstone.
Artur mostly doesn’t possess one punch chilling power like the legendary Bob Foster, who demonstrated it to the best effect against Mike Quarry. Rather, ‘’Beter’’ uses batter and keeps coming, come what may. Dmitry must try his utmost and keep his wits about him, to preserve this at range, to conserve, maintain and restrict it to a boxing match, and not to become embroiled or enmeshed into a trawl-net brawl, which wouldn’t be wise, as in going for the bait, he’ll get caught hook, line and sinker.
Both have fought Joe Smith, who extended Dmitri the full twelve. Artur dispatched him in two brief, unforgettable rounds, after the Construction Man got hot under the blue collar and committed the costly error of trying to stand, trade and mix. He got clobbered with a concrete mixer plus the kitchen sink, unhinging his equilibrium!
This fight was well and truly on, after Artur and Dmitry came across each other during a brief, wry, arid encounter in the heart of Riyadh last year, just prior to a dinner. Both were dressed up to the nines. Dmitri a touch more formal in a dicky-bow, while Artur more casually attired in an open-necked shirt below his tux.
Artur’s rather shy smile, instantly vanished, transforming into a fixed, chilling, icy glare, as they did a brief face to face, while Dmitri remained impassive. And then, Artur quipped that Dmitry was always talking about a fight, but not coming through with it. That’s now changed.
Iconic Artur is laconic. He lets his actions speak volumes, rather than his words. As he explains: ‘’Usually we never talk about strategy or what we are going to try to do. Like every fight, for me it’s important. Any fight is dangerous, because boxing is dangerous.’’
In one form or another, Dmitry has been WBA champion since 2017. His record is 23-0, 12 KO’s. He’s not the destructive enforcer, wielding booming gongs and clashing symbols, percussion style, like Artur. To win he will need to box his opponent’s ears off and avoid getting into a toe- to- toe slugfest confrontation.
Now resident of Indio, California, Dmitry would do well to wander the Globe and seek out the advice of Grand Master Gary Kasparov, who was so adept at thinking many moves ahead, during his genius heyday epic chess matches.
Fighting Artur Beterbiev is akin to playing chess with Lucifer. Devilishly difficult, and the forfeit arising from checkmate, would reveal his bared soul. So, Dmitry has to try to beat another path.
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