Artur Beterbiev is a p.r. person's nightmare and a promoter's dream. If you're looking for someone to sell a fight by talking it up, by taunting an opponent, by creating headlines by making outlandish statements, look elsewhere because Beterbiev is not your man. The IBF-WBC-WBO light heavyweight champion never says three words when only a nod or a grunt will do.
He's never going to fill a reporter's notebook.
But to promote a Beterbiev fight, it's incredibly easy: String together a few of his knockouts, show a minute or two of his fight highlights, and you'll have to turn folks away at the door. He's one of the most fan-friendly fighters in the world.
He will defend his belts against Callum Smith on Saturday in Quebec City, Que., bringing a 19-0 record and 19 knockouts along with him. He hasn't fought since defeating Anthony Yarde in London by eighth-round stoppage on Jan. 28. He was supposed to fight Smith in August but had to pull out because he had dental surgery.
Asked how the layoff would affect him, and after listening to an incredibly long translation of the question in French, Beterbiev shrugged.
"I'm good," he said to laughs all around for his brevity.
We tend to look closely for flaws in fighters this dominant, and there has been some conversation leading into Saturday's bout that Beterbiev is hit too easily. Stephen "Breadman" Edwards, one of boxing's elite minds and top trainers, almost choked on his cereal upon hearing that.
"Beterbiev is a tremendous fighter and he's a Top 10 fighter in the world," Edwards told keviniole.com. "He is arguably the best puncher in the world. He has very underrated boxing skills, because not only is he a very hard puncher, he has the ability to land that punch on everybody he's ever faced. It takes skill to apply that power like he does. It's not just all power. There are a lot of guys who can punch, but they can't land their punch when they need to.
"Beterbiev has the ability to do that and that's why I said he has such underrated boxing skills."
Beterbiev was asked about his power at Thursday's final news conference, but he elicited more laughs with his answer. He looked at emcee Mark Shunock and said, "I think that's a better question for him," pointing at his trainer, Marc Ramsay. "I just go in there and do what he says."
Ramsay smiled, because he has been around boxing a long time and knows you can't teach someone to punch like Beterbiev does. It's a God-given gift. Oh, it can be improved by working on technique and timing, but the kind of power that Beterbiev has is very rare and doesn't come from a trainer's instructions.
"He is arguably the best puncher in the world. He has very underrated boxing skills, because not only is he a very hard puncher, he has the ability to land that punch on everybody he's ever faced. It takes skill to apply that power like he does. It's not just all power. There are a lot of guys who can punch, but they can't land their punch when they need to. Beterbiev has the ability to do that."
-- Trainer Stephen Edwards on Artur Beterbiev
Ramsay said that in any event, power isn't his focus with Beterbiev in training.
"To be honest, everybody except those on our team focus on that," he said of extending Beterbiev's knockout streak. "The opponents always focus on that. Like, this is not something that we focus on. We try to do the best work in the gym possible. We try to prepare to do the best fight possible and this is just the conclusion of the fight."
Edwards is high on Beterbiev, though because of the styles, he gives Smith a chance to spring the upset. Beterbiev is a -450 favorite at DraftKings, with Smith at +320 on the buyback. Beterbiev, though, is -220 to win by KO.
Edwards said if Beterbiev gets past Smith and then unifies the light heavyweight titles by defeating WBA champion Dmitry Bivol, a bout which has been much discussed, it will clearly mark him as one of the greatest light heavyweights ever.
Edwards said his three greatest light heavyweights at this point are Ezzard Charles, Michael Spinks and Archie Moore. He said defeating Smith and Bivol would put Beterbiev among the 10 or 15 greatest light heavyweights ever. That is high praise.
Beterbiev's best punch is a soul-sucking overhand right that damages so many opponents. But Edwards said Smith's bread-and-butter is the best punch to neutralize that.
"Callum Smith has a really good counter hook," Edwards said. "The way he throws that counter hook is when he counters your right hand, his opponent's right hand, he catches the punch with his left hand and then he turns the hook over before you can even get your hand back into defensive position."
Although Edwards picks Beterbiev to win by TKO somewhere between six and nine, he says that counter hook matches up well with Beterbiev and gives Smith a chance to win on Saturday.
If he does go down to defeat, though, Edwards insists it won't be because Beterbiev has defensive deficiencies.
"If you are an offensive fighter who comes forward like Beterbiev, yes, you're going to get hit," Edwards said. "That's boxing. There are guys who sacrifice their offense for defense and there are other guys who sacrifice their defense for offense. You're just not going to have a high-percentage knockout fighter, a destructive guy, who doesn't get hit. It's impossible. So when people say [Beterbiev is weak defensively], it's micromanaging and just looking for something to criticize.
"If there is a guy who is moving all around the ring and not engaging and then he gets hit as much as Beterbiev, then I'd say that guy has defensive issues. But if you're a guy like Beterbiev who is always coming forward and always on the attack, his defense is fine. For his style, his defense is fine."