Bivol admits he has to change his strategy to win the rematch

Dmitry Bivol says he understands he needs to try a different strategy to win a rematch with undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in their fight in 60 days on February 22 in Riyadh.

Can Bivol change?

For Bivol to win the rematch, he must change his fighting style from defensive to focusing on being aggressive and staying in the pocket. With his fragile chin, lack of power, age and reluctance to get hit, Bivol is unlikely to change. He is 34 years old and quite set in his ways.

Former WBA 175-pound champion Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) doesn’t say it outright, but he spent too much time running away from Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) after stunning him with a strong shot in the seventh round.

Bivol, 34, showed no desire to maintain his position after that round, and the final five rounds were a long and bitter retreat. It was enlightening to see Bivol surrender and flee, giving up the fight and thinking only of survival; he showed weakness and reluctance to fight. Beterbiev took advantage of Bivol’s reluctance to fight.

I don’t know what can change in a rematch. When a fighter is afraid, as Bivol demonstrated, that doesn’t change in the rematch. That fear is still there. You get the same results in the rematch and the fans go home unhappy.

Turki Alalashikh should have matched Beterbiev against David Benavidez, Joshua Buatsi or David Morrell rather than setting up a rematch with Bivol. Dmitry should have earned his rematch by facing one or two of those fighters rather than receiving it after his defeat.

The scores were 116-112, 115-113 for Beterbiev and 114-114. Some boxing fans felt that 116-112 was too wide, but it reflected how Bivol could not stand and fight. He used a “hit and run” style, which showed that he was not willing to fight. Unsurprisingly, Bivol’s punches lacked power because his mind was focused on escape. In other words, Bivol was simply screwing up.

Sixty days to change

Dmitry’s fans believed he had done enough to deserve the victory, but it was obvious to everyone else that Beterbiev had dominated the last six rounds, putting fear into them. Beterbiev denounced Bivol for lack of courage under fire. We had already seen Bivol look scared when Lyndon Arthur hurt him in the eighth round on December 23, 2023.

“I have another chance and [Turki Alalshikh] he talked about this date the day after the fight. He wanted to have the rematch on this date. He asked me, he asked Beterbiev who said yes, and from that day I have in my head that I will have this chance again,” Dmitry Bivol told Fighthype about him getting another opportunity to fight Artur Beterbiev .

“Obviously I need to do something different and I know what I’m going to add, I know what I’m going to change a little bit.”

The rabbit and the wolf

Turki gave Bivol another chance, but that won’t help him unless he fights with more heart and stops being a timid rabbit like he was last time. Beterbiev was chasing him around the ring like a wolf for the last half of the fight, and it looked like Bivol had given up. He was just hoping to win a bad decision.