Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol are just a day away from their undisputed light-heavyweight clash in what has been described as one of ‘one of boxing’s most anticipated clashes in recent memory’
One of Artur Beterbiev’s former sparring partners described taking punches from him as the equivalent of being hit by a car.
Now boxing is not one to shy away from hyperbole, of course. But the fighter could actually compare as he had actually once been hit by an actual car.
The evidence on his boxing record backs up the claim that he bangs. The Canadian-based Russian has faced 20 professional opponents and not one has heard the final bell.
Dmitry Bivol may not be as renowned a finisher as his Russian compatriot but that is not to say he is not heavy handed, either. But he is more known as a master boxer. A stylish and disciplined boxer who is also unbeaten and has shown how to completely negate the threat of Canelo Alvarez, like Floyd Mayweather once did.
The pair are both revered amateurs, too. Schooled in their homeland, sometimes team-mates on the road but now warring partners for the crown of undisputed light-heavyweight champion. It all makes for one of boxing’s most anticipated clashes in recent memory.
Without the Saudi money backing, this fight would not generate much cash despite their talents but it is this generation’s Alvarez against Gennadiy Golovkin or Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao. Just without the razzmatazz of Las Vegas behind it. “I am not a monster,” said Beterbiev. “My name is just Artur.”
But this is a man who claims not to eat a full meal for three days before his fights. “If I eat, it makes me kinder and I don’t want to be kind,” said the Chechnya-born fighter. “I want to be hungry.”
Both men have beaten Brits. Beterbiev has stopped Callum Johnson, Anthony Yarde and Callum Smith along the way. WBA champion Bivol, born Kyrgyzstan but chose to represent Russia, has overcome Lyndon Arthur and Craig Richards.
Now they’re both facing the toughest test of their careers with a rivalry that has grown over the years they both collected the belts in the division. “It is not personal, it is just strictly business,” said Bivol. “This is a job. He is not my enemy, he is not my friend. He is just a fighter who I respect.”
It would be ignorant to just call Beterbiev a knockout artist given his boxing ability to go with it but it feels like it is a meeting of power versus style when the two clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
There are questions over Beterbiev’s age at 39 and recent injuries while sometimes Bivol has coasted in bouts when he could have pushed for more. But it still feels like a fight that you feel has everything to deliver something special.
