On October 12, the long-awaited fight between Russian boxers Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev will take place in Riyadh. Athletes will fight for the status of absolute world champion in the light heavyweight division. The winner will receive four major belts in professional boxing: WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF.

Bivol is considered the favorite of the confrontation. Many experts say that Dmitry, due to his better technique, will outplay Arthur and take the fight on points. And this option is quite real. Bivol’s last decision victory was in the fight before last. Then the Russian simply declassed his opponent.

Passing match for Bivol

In December 2023, in the same Riyadh, Dmitry held the sixth defense of the WBA Super belt against the British Lyndon Arthur. In addition, Bivol claimed the IBO title, which Arthur held at the time of the fight. The fight turned out to be one-sided.

From the first seconds of the fight, the Russian took the center of the ring and brought crazy pressure on his opponent. Poor Arthur simply could not keep up with the fast Bivol and was forced to take the hardest blows.

Dmitry perfectly controlled the distance, constantly worked with the jab and pinned his opponent against the ropes at the right moment. The fight took place according to a single scenario, where the Briton outright lost to the Russian.

Dmitry Bivol vs. Lyndon Arthur / Photo: © Anadolu / Contributor / Anadolu / Gettyimages.ru

Bivol’s impeccable boxing bore fruit. At the end of the 11th round, after another missed blow to the liver, Arthur fell to the canvas. This happened right before the gong, so Dmitry did not have time to finish off his opponent immediately.

But in the last round, Bivol decided not to spare any effort and in the opening of the three-minute period he began to fire at Arthur as if from a machine gun. It seemed that the Briton was about to be knocked out. But we must give Lindon credit: he coped with the pressure, did not fall and still managed to strike back. Arthur showed a real fighting spirit and a desire to win even in a hopeless situation.

As a result, the judges gave Bivol all 12 rounds. The humiliating 120:107 for the Briton on three cards at once confirmed that boxers of completely different levels were meeting.

In a fight with Beterbiev, Bivol is unlikely to be able to beat his opponent so easily. Arthur himself prefers to work as number one, acting in an aggressive style and constantly looking for an opportunity to score a knockout.

Let’s see which of these two undefeated fighters maintains a perfect record. In any case, one of the most significant confrontations in the history of Russian boxing awaits us.