Beterbiev vs Bivol June 1st in Saudi ESPN+**** Postponed ***

[trendnick]

Bivol should be in best shape (condition etc.) so he CAN win

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Bivol should be in best shape (condition etc.) so he CAN win

He could show up in the best shape of his life. Based on what I've seen I don't believe he has the necessary durability. To be fair none of the other top light heavies do, either.

 

[Blastbeat]

Artur hurt him with ease when none of Joe's other opponents could (other than getting his jaw broken early in his career). Did you hear what Joe said to his trainer after the fight? He goes, "I've never felt like that."

i was pretty sad for Joe that night. he's a Long Island guy and thats where i grew up so i was rooting for him to bring a war. didnt expect to see him blasted out like that

 

[toogreen]

i got bivol winning wide

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

i got bivol winning wide

He's currently the betting underdog. Might want to put some money down on him if you think he can go the distance. He's been hurt in fights and against opponents that are way less dangerous. That's not a good sign.

 

[trendnick]

He could show up in the best shape of his life. Based on what I've seen I don't believe he has the necessary durability. To be fair none of the other top light heavies do, either.

We will see what happens. Maybe Bivol got tested in a really good fashion.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

We will see what happens. Maybe Bivol got tested in a really good fashion.

Bivol can win a decision of course but he'll have to be damn near perfect. You need to be able to get Artur's respect early in the fight and then build off that. Make him respect your offense. Keeping him off for 12 rounds, and absorbing the punishment, are critical for Bivol.

 

[Hagler]

Bivol can win a decision of course but he'll have to be damn near perfect. You need to be able to get Artur's respect early in the fight and then build off that. Make him respect your offense. Keeping him off for 12 rounds, and absorbing the punishment, are critical for Bivol.

Bivol could do that to Ginger but Artur doesn't have Canelo's stamina issues at 175. Can Bivol sit on his punches just enough to make the flurries matter and still get away with them ? That's a good question. Of course Callum got wrecked but he is no Bivol either offensively or defensively, that's for sure. This is a puzzling matchup to me.

 

[Nova44]

Bivol could do that to Ginger but Artur doesn't have Canelo's stamina issues at 175. Can Bivol sit on his punches just enough to make the flurries matter and still get away with them ? That's a good question. Of course Callum got wrecked but he is no Bivol either offensively or defensively, that's for sure. This is a puzzling matchup to me.

It's literally impossible to call this one for me personally. If Bivol outboxes Biev and gets the decision, would it be that surprising? If Biev smashes Bivol within four rounds, would it be surprising? I don't even care who wins, i just need to see it before i leave this rock.

 

[Hagler]

It's literally impossible to call this one for me personally. If Bivol outboxes Biev and gets the decision, would it be that surprising? If Biev smashes Bivol within four rounds, would it be surprising? I don't even care who wins, i just need to see it before i leave this rock.

Neither have fought anyone similar to the other. To some extend Canelo gave us a hint of what Bivol could do against Artur but size, stamina and power won't be the same. A few guys tried to stick and more against Beterbiev but none has the volume punching and composure of Bivol. Plus that's 5 or 6 more months for Artur and no matter how good he looked against Smith time has to catch up with him at some point while Bivol's legs are pretty unique at this weight.

Gun to my head I'd say Bivol, but then again gut feelings haven't made me a rich man so far.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Bivol could do that to Ginger but Artur doesn't have Canelo's stamina issues at 175. Can Bivol sit on his punches just enough to make the flurries matter and still get away with them ? That's a good question. Of course Callum got wrecked but he is no Bivol either offensively or defensively, that's for sure. This is a puzzling matchup to me.

Bivol can likely frustrate Artur but he'll have to expend a ton of energy just to try and keep him off. I remember how exhausted Gvozdyk looked. Bivol has better legs and boxing skills but Gvozdyk is bigger, longer, and hits a lot harder. I see Artur being able to cut the ring and force him to stand his ground in spots.

Can Bivol flurry and then get out of there? Possibly. Problem is that Artur will start to time that and punch in-between his shots. Unless Bivol puts up a Mayweather-esque performance I think Artur stops him. I've seen Bivol hurt before and by guys that don't hit nearly as hard and who are only a fraction as dangerous. At some point in the fight he will hurt Bivol and press the issue.

Artur doesn't necessarily have to stop him to win the fight. He's skilled enough to win multiple rounds and likely score at least one knockdown in the process (he averages over 2 knockdowns per fight). If he can keep it close, or score a couple knockdowns, he can win on the cards.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Here are some Beterbiev stats that are quite impressive. They were compiled by a buddy of mine over at BoxingScene.

• Has dropped and stopped all 20 of his opponents, 9 of which were in world title fights, scoring 48 knockdowns over a 10½ year pro career.

• Was the first man to stop 11 of his 20 opponents (Page Jr, A. Johnson, Maderna, Prieto, Koelling, C. Johnson, Kalajdzic, Gvozdyk, Deines, Browne, and C. Smith). In other words, 55% of his opponents had never been stopped prior and only 3 have been stopped since (Page Jr, Maderna, Koelling).

• Fought 9 consecutive opponents that had never been stopped until they met Artur (all had a minimum of 17 fights).

• Has 7 KOs inside the first 2 rounds.

• Has 12 KOs inside the first 4 rounds.

• Retired 3 fighters from boxing (Cruz, Cloud, and prime Gvozdyk).

 

[borntoloseNOT]

Here are some Beterbiev stats that are quite impressive. They were compiled by a buddy of mine over at BoxingScene.

• Has dropped and stopped all 20 of his opponents, 9 of which were in world title fights, scoring 48 knockdowns over a 10½ year pro career.

• Was the first man to stop 11 of his 20 opponents (Page Jr, A. Johnson, Maderna, Prieto, Koelling, C. Johnson, Kalajdzic, Gvozdyk, Deines, Browne, and C. Smith). In other words, 55% of his opponents had never been stopped prior and only 3 have been stopped since (Page Jr, Maderna, Koelling).

• Fought 9 consecutive opponents that had never been stopped until they met Artur (all had a minimum of 17 fights).

• Has 7 KOs inside the first 2 rounds.

• Has 12 KOs inside the first 4 rounds.

• Retired 3 fighters from boxing (Cruz, Cloud, and prime Gvozdyk).

Some of the guys he stopped were tanks just like him, too. Not the type to go down easy and were clearly not shook by the hype, clearly hit very hard and I really never ever saw Artur really look like he could really risk losing or even tire against anyone up until the Yarde fight where for just a second Yarde looked like he was coming on and Artur looked a little winded and to be becoming more respectful by the round. Clearly that wasn’t the case and Artur got it done, but I think we saw an “off night”. Maybe he had covid around then. Something like that.

Anyway, my point is, I really don’t think these opponents really knew what they were facing, any of them really ready for the completeness Artur possesses in the pro ranks.

Bivol won’t be ready either, he will have to find another gear like only the few ever have in the ring while in the fight of their life. Will really decide who Bivol is and if he has that greatness factor because imo anything less and a fighter who typically always gets their way is probably getting stopped trying the same shit with Artur.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Some of the guys he stopped were tanks just like him, too. Not the type to go down easy and were clearly not shook by the hype, clearly hit very hard and I really never ever saw Artur really look like he could really risk losing or even tire against anyone up until the Yarde fight where for just a second Yarde looked like he was coming on and Artur looked a little winded and to be becoming more respectful by the round. Clearly that wasn’t the case and Artur got it done, but I think we saw an “off night”. Maybe he had covid around then. Something like that.

Anyway, my point is, I really don’t think these opponents really knew what they were facing, any of them really ready for the completeness Artur possesses in the pro ranks.

Bivol won’t be ready either, he will have to find another gear like only the few ever have in the ring while in the fight of their life. Will really decide who Bivol is and if he has that greatness factor because imo anything less and a fighter who typically always gets their way is probably getting stopped trying the same shit with Artur.

I see Bivol doing very well up until he gets clipped. If he manages to get back up, and his legs are shaky, then he'll just be a sitting duck. His best asset will be gone. That's what Artur excels at. He's good at taking away his opponents' equilibrium with shots to the top and side of the head (sometimes even the back of the head). Then he goes in for the kill.

These two have sparred before as pros and the talk is that Artur got the better of it. That's why Team Bivol has been dragging this out for so long. There's a big brother/little brother element involved here just like there was in the Gvozdyk fight.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Excited for this one. It should be a done deal any day now. Artur has just one last belt to collect.

 

[moosaev]

Neither have fought anyone similar to the other. To some extend Canelo gave us a hint of what Bivol could do against Artur but size, stamina and power won't be the same. A few guys tried to stick and more against Beterbiev but none has the volume punching and composure of Bivol. Plus that's 5 or 6 more months for Artur and no matter how good he looked against Smith time has to catch up with him at some point while Bivol's legs are pretty unique at this weight.

Gun to my head I'd say Bivol, but then again gut feelings haven't made me a rich man so far.

Gvozdyk tried the stick and move gameplan, sure he wasn't as good at it as Bivol, but he hit like a dump truck. The issue for Bivol is he can't bust a grape. You need to have respectable power to keep Beterbiev off of you, this is why Yarde for example did so well. Yarde combined very smart boxing and a sound game plan with enormous power. You need both in equal measure to beat Artur imo.

Also, Bivol has good feet but his movement is linear. Canelo was able to repeatedly walk him into the ropes he just didn't have the power or size to inflict damage. You need the Usyk/Lomachenko circular movement with angles to diffuse Beterbiev, linear movement won't cut it. I'm not sure Bivol's type of mobility will work against Artur.

Artur by 8th round TKO, corner stoppage

 

[moosaev]

Some of the guys he stopped were tanks just like him, too. Not the type to go down easy and were clearly not shook by the hype, clearly hit very hard and I really never ever saw Artur really look like he could really risk losing or even tire against anyone up until the Yarde fight where for just a second Yarde looked like he was coming on and Artur looked a little winded and to be becoming more respectful by the round. Clearly that wasn’t the case and Artur got it done, but I think we saw an “off night”. Maybe he had covid around then. Something like that.

Anyway, my point is, I really don’t think these opponents really knew what they were facing, any of them really ready for the completeness Artur possesses in the pro ranks.

Bivol won’t be ready either, he will have to find another gear like only the few ever have in the ring while in the fight of their life. Will really decide who Bivol is and if he has that greatness factor because imo anything less and a fighter who typically always gets their way is probably getting stopped trying the same shit with Artur.

I just think Yarde was a bad stylistic match up for him. Awkward boxing style with great athleticism and power, fighting at home, and he fought the fight of his life. And still got KO'd. You also have to give credit to Yarde's trainer Tunde Ajayi, he came up with an excellent game plan. Particularly the timed off rhythm counter left hooks. Those not only hurt Artur they totally disrupted his momentum.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

It's only going to take one little mistake from Bivol for Artur to get on top of him. Once that happens it'll be all downhill for Bivol. We're talking about a guy that only has to clip you. He could literally be off balance and just graze the side of your head with a shot.

 

[Hagler]

Gvozdyk tried the stick and move gameplan, sure he wasn't as good at it as Bivol, but he hit like a dump truck. The issue for Bivol is he can't bust a grape. You need to have respectable power to keep Beterbiev off of you, this is why Yarde for example did so well. Yarde combined very smart boxing and a sound game plan with enormous power. You need both in equal measure to beat Artur imo.

Also, Bivol has good feet but his movement is linear. Canelo was able to repeatedly walk him into the ropes he just didn't have the power or size to inflict damage. You need the Usyk/Lomachenko circular movement with angles to diffuse Beterbiev, linear movement won't cut it. I'm not sure Bivol's type of mobility will work against Artur.

Artur by 8th round TKO, corner stoppage

Yarde did have some success but he paid the price and his gas tank isn’t exactly bottomless. That being said in a Montreal phonebooth I believe Artur gets to Bivol eventually. We’ll see about that in Riyad, Bivol should have more room to do his thing. His ability to score and avoid the bodywork that wore down Gvozdyk will certainly be key. That’s food for thought but I haven’t voted yet.

 

[BoxerMaurits]

@MMALOPEZ official for June 1: