Dmitry Bivol has shared the ring with two of the best fighters of this era, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Artur Beterbiev.
Bivol has been a match for both men. In 2022, he became only the second fighter to beat Canelo, outpointing the Mexican over 12 fights to win a split decision and retain his WBA light heavyweight world title.
It was that belt he put on the line this weekend in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia against Beterbiev, who brought the WBC, WBO and IBF belts to the table. Bivol heard the final bell – an achievement in itself given his fellow champion had an incredible 100% knockout ratio coming into the fight – but lost by majority decision.
Even though his promoter Eddie Hearn was outraged by the scorecards, calling the result a robbery and calling for an immediate rematch, Bivol was much more level-headed. He thanked his fans for their support and accepted that the fight did not go in his favour. He also had time to praise the now undisputed champion’s famed power.
“Of course. It’s powerful. Very powerful. You can see I have a bruise on my hand. I always hit him and it was so strong [that he would get hurt when my own hand] hit my eye.”
Training partners and opponents alike have stories of fearsome punches from Beterbiev, who turned 39 earlier this year.
However, when it comes to best one-punch power, Bivol gives the nod to current unified 168-pound champion Canelo, who has only fought at light heavyweight twice.
In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Bivol was again asked how Beterbiev’s power felt, the 33-year-old said that each and every punch he throws is difficult to take, a key difference when facing Canelo, who focuses on putting everything behind one punch.
“You know, he has a strong punch and he is very dangerous [but] it is about how strong he is and not just one punch, all the punches in the combinations are strong.
I could compare him to Canelo, yes, he put all his energy, all his power into one punch. And yes, maybe with one punch he is sometimes tougher than Beterbiev. Beterbiev was closer and more compact.
But if you ask them to throw five punches, Beterbiev, every punch is going to be hard. With Canelo, maybe the first one is hard and then not [as much]… If we ask Beterbiev to [put everything in one punch] maybe his is going to be harder, but he is not doing it.”
Canelo has 39 knockouts out of 62 wins. Since the loss to Bivol, he has been on a five-fight decision win streak.
Prior to the fight with Beterbiev, the Mexican superstar had expressed interest in facing Bivol if he won in an attempt to avenge his loss. It is now much more likely that the rematch will take place between Bivol and Beterbiev. Both have expressed interest and no boxing fan would disapprove, given the suspense they offered this weekend.
