Beterbiev intends to “correct and improve” in the Bivol rematch

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 final belt he needed to achieve that distinction against Bivol on Oct. 12 with a 12-round majority decision.

Revenge strategies

While Bivol says he should move more in the rematch compared to the first fight, Beterbiev appears to be going in the opposite direction, suggesting he should be more aggressive early on. Artur wasted many of the early rounds by not attacking Bivol.

Once Beterbiev went on the attack, it was one-sided, with him stalking Bivol around the ring, nailing him with strong strikes and dealing with his constant grappling. It was quite obvious that Dmitry did not have the ability to fight when 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 for Beterbiev and 114-114.

“I think he’s right. We already know how each of us fights. We saw each other,” Artur Beterbiev told the media, reacting to the news that Kostya Tszyu said he expects his rematch with Dmitry Bivol to be a completely different type of fight. “I think, of course, it will be a different fight.

“Some things can be corrected and improved. Well, his [Bivol] the fists are those of a boxer. I probably won’t go up there,” Beterbiev said of a fight between him and Oleksandr Usyk. “From a sporting point of view, I would be interested in that fight because we boxed in the Olympics [2012] and the World Championships.

“It would be interesting to try it as professionals. Not for money, although money is a nice thing. But my interest in this fight would be purely sporting. Much more than monetary.

Early aggression

There won’t be much difference in the rematch other than Beterbiev will attack right away and Bivol will move in circles for three minutes each round. Dmitry will not try to fight because he was injured last time and has neither the strength nor the courage to fight with Beterbiev. So, he will try to win a decision by hitting and running.

“It’s amazing to me how he changes positions,” Beterbiev said of Terence Crawford. “It’s amazing that he’s not a lefty but can switch both ways. He also said that he does some exercises that he saw from me,” Beterbiev said.