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Glory Points
Artur Beterbiev became the second absolute world champion in the history of Russian professional boxing. He got this extremely prestigious position after defeating another outstanding domestic light heavyweight (up to 79.4 kg) Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh. But the match between the two compatriots left a feeling of too much equality. The fight, which is difficult to evaluate, is undoubtedly recognized as the best, so a rematch is out of the question.
The high and honorable position that Artur Beterbieva achieved during the fight in the capital of Saudi Arabia can be judged at least by the name mentioned in the context of the events. Those who truly love boxing pronounce these names with the utmost respect, and with aspirations the icons and symbols become clearer and more expressive. Of course, the legend of the welterweight (up to 63.5 kg) Konstantin Tszyu was until now the only absolute world champion from Russia. Of course, the American magician Roy Jones is a former absolute champion in the light heavyweight category, in which Beterbiev competes. But about 25 years have passed since his rise. And when it finally happened, Beterbiev would have had a slightly easier time achieving the status he achieved in the sense that he would have had to collect three championship belts instead of four. The World Boxing Organization (WBO) belt is not yet included in the list. It is equivalent to the belt of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA).
All in all, it's a different era. For a whole generation of boxing fans who grew up in the last few decades, it brings back fond memories of their parents.
Artur Beterbiev, who turns 40 in January, is technically a veteran and, by the rather idiomatic standards of the genre, a junior who can only dream of the big things when Tszyu and Jones have achieved theirs. He has a long run with the Russian amateur team ahead of him. He has won gold medals at the world and European championships and has had two Olympic failures, the second of which was very aggressive. He himself remains confident, even though he is not a referee. He was penalized for a perfectly legal punch in London in 2012, and although he is currently the undisputed world champion, he would have beaten Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk at heavyweight. Before him was the transition to the pros and the gradual recognition of himself as a real, unconditional phenomenon, a phenomenon. It's hard not to think of him as a boxer who collects championship titles: first IBF, then WBC, then WBO, etc., and not only handles his opponents with confidence, but is ahead of schedule with each and every one of them, even those who have many of the best fights in their careers and reputations as tough nuts like Oleksandr Gvozdyk or Callum Smith.
And the crowning glory of this rich career was an inevitable clash with another phenomenon who found himself in the light heavyweight division, representing the domestic school of boxing. Perhaps a phenomenon of a different nature: a reference technician and tactician, the holder of the WBA title. And no matter how you look at it, something incredibly complex came out of this conflict.
The fight between two undefeated Russian titans with giant posters gave no rest to those who wanted to catch at least some transparent hints about who had more chances from the first moment until the final gong.
In the opening round, Dmitry Bivol was a little more attractive with a laconic and sharp "two" with light, almost effortless movement around the ring. In the fifth, he is joined by Artur Betarbiev, who always slowly accelerates, showing that everyone who is convinced that age and a recent operation on a damaged meniscus are bad factors for him are mistaken. No, nothing bothers him. And now he hits Bivol with his left hand to the head, but changes the "gender" and hits hard to the body. Well, this is the old, familiar Beterbiev, with the pressure, habits and grip of a bull terrier, who cannot get out of the rhythm with tricky techniques and maneuvers.
But Bivol is the same and familiar. He extinguishes the blow, quickly recovers and in the 7th round he releases a bright and prickly series, as if convincingly. There is no turning point here. Go ahead and feel the taste of intrigue.
The intrigue and uncertainty continued to haunt the fight even after it was over and in the short time between the bell and the score. Artur Beterbiev was active in the last three rounds, but his face and reserved demeanor did not indicate that he had won. The man who suddenly appeared next to the overjoyed man was Ramzan Kadyrov, not Beterbiev. He only showed emotion when the scorecards were announced. One had a draw 114-114, while the other two had Beterbiev ahead 116-112 and 115-113. Beterbiev, in his 21st fight, had a unique streak of knockout victories, but he received a more valuable reward. You cannot imagine.
But after that fight I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Everything warmed him. He relies on statistics to determine that neither man has a significant advantage in the most important components. For example, Beterbiev has 90 to 84, Bivol has just hits, slightly more pronounced hits 143 to 137. The same 116:112 is strange, thanks to the numbers on the card of the Pole Pawel Kardyny. Because none of the experts who watched this fight could understand where such an advantage of Beterbiev could have manifested itself in the fourth round. These words gave him energy. And God bless British promoter Eddie Hearn, whom Bivol called "robbed". After all, Hearn works with him, and he cannot expect justice here. But last night, many famous boxers who watched the fight to check themselves wrote something along the same lines on social networks. The list of those who did not accept the verdict or at least doubted it included Konstantin Tszyu, Andre Ward, Gervonta Davis, Shawn Porter, Ryan Garcia and Tony Bellew.
And Bivol's coach Vadim Kornilov told the YouTube channel BoxNation that the boxer's team would be protesting the result of the match. In fact, however, only the Polish referee made it clear that he would face punishment.
Of course, it was not a "robbery". Rough and rough "robbers" in boxing look different. But it was a difficult match to evaluate, and no matter what anyone said, an equal fight left a taste of understatement. And this was obviously understood by both the boxer and the one on whom it largely depends whether the confrontation will continue or not, and given the details of the match, this is certainly not superfluous. The organizer of the fight, the general director of the Saudi company Entertainment Turki Al ash-Sheikh, frankly admitted that, in his opinion, Bivol won, so he should "try to organize a rematch". Of course, if the Russian boxer agrees to it. In principle, they have already agreed, but Beterbiev made it clear: "Not within six months." In short, there is no plot yet.