The biggest light heavyweight title bout of this century takes place on Saturday in Saudi Arabia as unbeaten titleholders Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol square off for 175-pound supremacy.
Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) will put his IBF, WBC and WBO titles on the line against the WBA strap of Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) as the pair meet inside of Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena to crown the first four-belt, undisputed champion in divisional history.
As we draw closer to this long-awaited showdown, which has been delayed due to injuries and rescheduling, let’s take a closer look at the biggest storylines entering this weekend.
1. There’s so much more at stake beyond the undisputed title
It’s rare enough in this modern era to get two unbeaten champions to agree to square off to unify all recognized world titles within a single division. But the stakes get raised dramatically when you consider what this fight means within the current (and crowded) landscape surrounding the top of the pound-for-pound list. While three future Hall-of-Fame fighters (Oleksandr Usyk, Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue) have all held a claim at various points to the P4P throne over the past year, the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol has a legitimate shot to crash the party, especially if the result comes without dispute or the need for an immediate rematch. Given that this is a rare meeting between two fighters both firmly entrenched in the top 5 of most P4P lists (and the fact that both are so deeply established this far into their respective and successful careers) only raises the critical value of what a victory in this matchup could mean. From a P4P standpoint alone, this fight isn’t out of place being compared to similarly historical pairings in the modern era including Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr., Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev, Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin and Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao.
2. We probably aren’t here without Saudi Arabia and Turki Alalshikh
The elephant in the room of late across most avenues of elite boxing deserves a high five for the vision, patience and financial commitment to see this great fight through despite the many injuries and pitfalls which have tried to delay it. From the very beginning of his takeover as the new power broker atop the sport, Alalshikh has Beterbiev-Bivol as one of his most coveted projects. Would this fight have even happened without the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia opening up its entertainment fund to sponsor such a huge event under the banner of Riyadh Season? That’s an interesting question and one worth pondering given the fact that both fighters in the main event, for everything each has accomplished from a critical standpoint, have yet to truly cross over on a mainstream level outside of the sport. If the fight did happen, it certainly wouldn’t have been part of a production or platform this large (with the added bonus of ESPN+ subscribers getting to watch the main event without needing to purchase the entire pay-per-view). Whether or not you are fully bought in on the Alalshikh experience of late, this is a monster event that has only benefitted from Saudi Arabia’s involvement.
3. Beterbiev could have an opportunity to walk away with a perfect resume
While the native of Russia, who fights out of Montreal, hasn’t given any indication that Saturday will be the final bout of his career at age 39, the incredible fact that Beterbiev has yet to go to the scorecards in 20 pro fights can’t be overlooked. Imagine a scenario in which Beterbiev only extends his remarkable, career-long knockout streak against someone as talented as the unbeaten Bivol. Now, imagine him deciding he has accomplished everything he set out to do and retired in the ring afterwards. (Bivol promoter, Eddie Hearn, has revealed neither fighter has a rematch clause.) It has already become difficult during this century to properly place fighters within boxing history like Floyd Mayweather, Joe Calzaghe and Andre Ward, all of whom walked away from the sport on their own terms with unbeaten records when it could’ve been argued each had something significant left in their tank. But if Beterbiev did so as undisputed light heavyweight champion, P4P king and the owner of a perfect record featuring 21 stoppages in as many fights? It would be hard to imagine a more perfect way to control one’s destiny.
4. How much are we overlooking Beterbiev’s advanced age?
If recent memory is any indication, the 33-year-old Bivol appears to still be at the peak of his prime just two years removed from claiming Fighter of the Year honors following back-to-back wins over Canelo Alvarez and unbeaten Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in 2022. But can we say the exact same thing about the 39-year-old Beterbiev? Not only is Beterbiev coming directly off knee surgery in May that postponed this fight until the fall, the knockout machine has looked decidedly more human than ever before since the end of the pandemic. Beterbiev took two years off ahead of his 2021 return and appears to be more hittable in recent years than at any time previous in his career. The good news for Beterbiev is that power is the last thing to go and he endured through a trio of recent competitive fights against Joe Smith Jr., Anthony Yarde and Callum Smith only to end all three with decisively via TKO. When asked about his age, Beterbiev recently revealed that he has taken a proactive approach of late, routinely asking his All-Star team of high-level coaches (Marc Ramsay, Russ Anber and “Iceman” John Scully) whether he has shown signs of slippage due to age. The response he has received appears to be a positive one (and it’s hard to argue with his recent success against such dangerous names). While it’s far from ideal that this matchup didn’t take place until now, with Beterbiev just three months shy of turning 40, the combination of his power and experience should still be enough to give him his best shot at remaining undefeated, even with him entering as a slight betting underdog.
5. The Beterbiev-Bivol winner will have plenty of hungry names asking for next
For as exciting as this Saturday’s matchup has the potential to be, it’s just as intriguing to consider what happens next for the winner. The great news is that the 175-pound division has recently received an upgrade of talent, largely from big-name super middleweights who are tired of sitting around in hopes of getting their number called by Alvarez, who remains the biggest star globally in the sport. While Beterbiev and Bivol hold the top two spots at light heavyweight, the next three fighters in the rankings are all waiting for their opportunity: David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs), David Morrell Jr. (11-0, 9 KOs) and Joshua Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs). And then there’s Alvarez, who lost a competitive yet clear decision to Bivol in 2022 and has been openly campaigning for a rematch ever since.
