Moments after Dmitry Bivol had avenged his only defeat and won a majority decision over Artur Beterbiev to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion, Turki Alalshikh — the mastermind behind Saturday’s mega-card — circled the ring, holding up three fingers.
No one needed to ask what he meant.
Alalshikh, like so many who watched, was indicating his desire for a rubber match.
Bivol had been true to his word. He promised he’d be three times better than he was on October 12, when Beterbiev edged him in a taut majority decision. He told anyone who would listen that it was the only way to change the outcome.
“I wasn’t good enough [last time],” Bivol had said repeatedly in the buildup.
Realistically? That kind of leap is impossible.
Because he was already damn good in October. That was high-level stuff, two masters putting on a showcase of elite boxing.
But somehow, Bivol found a way Saturday to back up his words.
In another pitched battle, Bivol dug deep, adapted, and captured another nailbiter. The result was up in the air until the final second. And then, Michael Buffer’s voice boomed through the arena:
“And new!”
Judges Mike Fitzgerald and Deon Dwarte scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Bivol. Jean-Robert Laine had it 114-114, as did I.
In a bizarre coincidence, the scores were the same as they were in October, when Beterbiev became the man. Saturday, it was Bivol’s team that erupted when Buffer read the scores.
Truth is, these guys could fight 10 times and the title might volley back and forth because they’re so evenly matched. Beterbiev brings the power, Bivol brings the precision. They both bring greatness. Splitting the difference between them?
That’s tougher than threading a needle at 100 years old.
Bivol, though, said afterward one of the keys was not putting pressure onto himself. He wanted to be so perfect last time it wore him down. This time around, he entered more relaxed, believing if he fought his fight he’d win.
“I didn’t pressure myself too much this time,” he said. “Before the last fight, I just wanted to work from the first round until the end of the 12th and hope I did enough.”
Saturday, Bivol relaxed and did what he had to do. He popped Beterbiev with his jab repeatedly, and connected on twice as many (85-43, according to CompuBox).
Every good trainer will tell you the jab is the most important punch in boxing, but it wasn’t just the jab that carried Bivol to the win.
Beterbiev stalked him like a trained killer and was blistering him with vicious shots to the body. Of Beterbiev’s 78 power punches landed, 31 of them were to the body.
If there was one notable difference in Bivol this time, it was that Bivol simply didn’t scamper away when Beterbiev brought the heat. Bivol fired back, stood his ground when he had to, and made Beterbiev repeatedly pay for walking into his punching range.
As happens in these situations, the losing side moans and the winners exult. In October, Bivol promoter Eddie Hearn complained bitterly about the outcome.
On Saturday, Hearn looked down as Buffer read the scores. When the words all challengers want to hear came out – And new! – Hearn threw his arms above his head, leaped into the air and hugged anyone he could see with a friendly face.
Beterbiev knew he’d fought well, but he also seemed to sense that he may not have done enough.
“Let’s do the third,” Beterbiev said.
A rubber match makes plenty of sense. But the fight probably won’t look appreciably different no matter how many times they fight because of their styles and their skill levels.
David Benavidez, who earlier this month defeated David Morrell to win a pair of titles, was in Riyadh to keep an eye on things as Alalshikh’s guest.
After the 24 grueling rounds that these men went through in a four-month period, they're going to need a vacation.
A rubber match seems fair, but it may not be a bad idea either to give Benavidez a shot and then have the winner fight Beterbiev.
No matter which way they choose to go, the light heavyweight division is quickly becoming one of the most fascinating in the sport.
The pieces are on the board. The question is how best to deploy them. That’s for another place and time as Bivol and Beterbiev deserve a long rest to recover.
Boxing, fans, though, deserve another show like that, where so many of the best in the world raised their games and risked it all. It doesn’t seem hard, but it was rarely done so regularly in the last quarter century or so than it has been recently.
Now that it’s captured the momentum, the only thing to do is to keep pitting the best against the best.
Rarely does anyone leave disappointed when a fight like that occurs.
Matt Richardson/Matchroom
Dmitry Bivol's (L) jab was a key in his win over Artur Beterbiev Saturday.