The first four-belt, undisputed championship bout in light heavyweight history on Saturday gave us 12 technical rounds between two pound-for-pound greats, with occasional pockets of two-way pressure and a thrilling amount of tension inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It also left us wanting more — a lot more, in fact — following a noticeable lack of closure on the scorecards.
In the end, Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) went the distance for the first time in his pro career by edging Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) via majority decision in a hotly contested and disputed outcome as the judges scored it 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112.
Even with the fight playing out as more tactical than action-packed, with no knockdowns and few momentum swings save for Bivol visibly hurting Beterbiev in Round 7, the performances of both fighters were anything but disappointing. The pair of Russian-born unbeaten champions showcased the very best that boxing can offer from the standpoint of defense, footwork, stamina and constant counter maneuvering in this high stakes game of chess.
But the one thing it left us without was a clear winner, regardless of how you scored it after so many close rounds. And, in a rare superfight without the added benefit (or, occasional curse) of a mandatory and contractual rematch clause, the only correct move for everyone involved would be to quickly arrange a new date for Round 13 to pick up where the ending of this fight left off.
The biggest point of contention with the fight’s result was how Bivol ultimately came up short on all three scorecards in a fight that felt to the naked eye like it would have been, at best, a close decision for the former WBA titleholder or, at worst, a competitive draw.
It was said by many experts coming in that Bivol, 33, would need to box a perfect fight to avoid becoming the 21st consecutive knockout casualty for the two-fisted power of Beterbiev. Instead, Bivol’s high guard, quick feet and faster hands appeared to humanize Beterbiev at times in ways few opponents have ever been able to do (let alone sustain).
Bivol outlanded Beterbiev by a margin of 142 to 137, according to CompuBox, but he did so at a much higher percentage (33.6% to 20.1%). Bivol also, expectedly, won the battle of the jabs by a 58 to 47 margin. But even though he was edged out by Beterbiev in total power shots (90 to 84), Bivol connected on an absurdly efficient 50% of his power punches overall.
Bivol, who also surprisingly stood his ground directly in front of Beterbiev amid a late rally in the championship rounds, was too humble to complain in the aftermath.
“I am a warrior. I have to do everything perfect,” Bivol said. “And I don’t have any explanation [for the loss] because it could look like excuses. I just congratulate Artur and his team. He deserves it. No problem. I just have time to make another decision for my future. That’s it.”
His promoter, Eddie Hearn, had a completely different response, however, while sitting directly next to Bivol at the postfight press conference.
“I find it sickening that after a lifetime of hard work, Dmitry Bivol is not undisputed champion tonight,” Hearn said. “He won that fight. I struggle to find anybody on our row, the row behind [or] the TV rows who didn’t score the fight to Bivol. To find a judge to give that fight 116-112 and give Dmitry Bivol four rounds in that fight, this judge should never work in the sport again.
“I’m sorry. Everything you are going to get out of Dmitry is, ‘I can do better, it’s boxing. I take the judges’ scorecard.’ But I don’t buy it because you don’t deserve that after that performance. It was an absolute boxing masterclass. It was the perfect performance. That was just a pure show of concentration, skill and defense with offense thrown in.”
To be fair, there were so many close rounds in this fight that it’s hard to argue with either boxer winning by one round. But the 116-112 scorecard Hearn mentioned, which was turned in by judge Pawel Kardyni, did appear to give Beterbiev every single benefit of the doubt in a fight that the Montreal resident started late and was never quite able to get into first gear due to the stubborn and skillful resistance shown by Bivol.
The judges appeared to ultimately favor the fact that Beterbiev was applying more pressure, especially in the second half of the fight. And his overall output of having attempted 682 total punches (compared to 423 for Bivol) reflects that.
But how much of Beterbiev’s pressure was actually effective? That’s the burning question that still lingers in the aftermath of this event, especially after Bivol was able to mute Beterbiev’s punishing power in ways no one else has.
Make no mistake, however, this wasn’t a robbery. It was a close, tense and competitive fight with a disputed outcome. But it’s one that outright demands an immediate second chapter before anyone starts fantasy matchmaking in and around the division using the likes of Canelo Alvarez, David Benavidez, David Morrell or Joshua Buatsi.
Beterbiev, to his credit, is the first undisputed light heavyweight champion since Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr. in 1999 and the first to do so in the current era of four recognized world titles. But Bivol, and many who watched this grand event on Saturday throughout the boxing world, have unfinished business to attend to before we declare that this rivalry closed.
Lucky for fans, Turki Alalshikh agrees. In an interview conducted by The Stomping Ground as the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s vast entertainment fund was exiting ringside, Alalshikh appeared to tease that a sequel is coming.
“This was one of the great fights of the last 20 years, I think, but I don’t think the result was fair, in my opinion,” Alalshikh said. “The two fighters are like my brothers but I think Bivol won two rounds more. I will focus and I will try to do the rematch.
“If they accept, we will do it.”
