Beterbiev promises to be 10% better for Bivol Rematch

Artur Beterbiev says his team made some changes to their training and hopes to improve at least 10% for their rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22 in Riyadh.

Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) wouldn’t reveal what areas he’s improved on, but reckons it’s enough to make the fight more exciting.

10% better

Beterbiev’s face during interviews this week suggests he will attack Bivol relentlessly and force him to fight or flee. Last time, Bivol ran away, which saved him from getting hit, but still cost him the fight. I was too focused on survival.

I suspect that will be his main focus this time once he starts to feel the heat from Beterbiev. Bivol is a good fighter when he’s not facing anything thrown at him. But when his opponents throw, he bombs or retreats. He has always fought like this.

“We changed some things in training. I hope to be better in this fight than in the first one,” said Artur Beterbiev talkSport Boxing about his rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22. “Before I was undisputed, I wanted to get a fourth belt. Now, I want to keep them.

“If I get some offers for that, I’ll look at them. So far, I’ve only gotten one offer for a rematch and I took it,” Beterbiev said when asked if he would be open to moving up to cruiserweight after that to fight

“I can take any fight if I have different offers. I’ll check with my team and take it,” Beterbiev said when asked if he would be interested in fighting Canelo Alvarez or Jai Opetaia if he beats Bivol.

“28,” Beterbiev said when asked how old he is.

Bivol’s tactics

He’s too old to change now at 34, and the only thing he can do differently in the rematch is hang on longer. That’s what many fighters say he should have done last time. That’s what we’ll likely see more of from Bivol to neutralize Beterbiev’s attack.

Last time out, Beterbiev started slowly, letting Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) win the first quarter of the fight with his jab and quick left-right combinations.

Beterbiev started to resemble his usual self halfway through the fight. Bivol had become confident and showed no respect for Artur as he had done in his recent fights against Malik Zinad, Lyndon Arthur and Gilberto Ramírez.

Bivol clearly misjudged Beterbiev and paid the price as he took over the fight in the sixth round and never looked back. The scores were 115-113, 116-112 for Beterbiev and 114-114.

Interestingly, many fans and fighters are pulling for Bivol to win the fight. They think he did enough to win the first fight, even admitting he didn’t look like winning a round in the sixth. They still think he won. It didn’t look like Bivol was going to win.

For Bivol to win, he will also have to fight more aggressively, because Beterbiev will put more pressure on him this time. The judges favored Artur’s attacking style to Bivol’s retreat.

“If I have a chance for 10%, I will be much better off,” Beterbiev said Queensberry Promotions about how much improvement would make him happy for his rematch with Bivol. “I can’t tell you. You’ll tell Bivol. I know you talk to Bivol about me,” Beterbiev said when asked what areas he wants to improve.

“I hope and I think it will be a more interesting fight than the first one, because now we know each other,” Beterbiev said of the rematch with Bivol.