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Artur Beterbiev says his team has made some changes to his training and hopes to be at least 10% improved for his rematch with Dmitri Bivola on February 22 in Riyadh.
Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) won’t reveal what areas he’s improved in, but he reckons it’s enough to make the fight more exciting.
10% better
The look on Beterbiev’s face during interviews this week suggests that he will constantly attack Bivol and force him to either fight or run. Last time, Bivol escaped, which saved him from a knockdown, but still cost him the fight. He was too focused on survival.
I suspect that will be his main goal this time when he starts to feel the heat of Beterbiev. A buffalo is a good fighter when it doesn’t deal with being retaliated against. But when his opponents roll, he shells or retreats. He always fought like that.
“We changed some things in training. I hope that in this fight I will be better than I was in the first fight,” said Artur Beterbiev for talkSport Boxing about his rematch with Dmitri Bivola on February 22. “Before I was undisputed, I wanted to get the fourth belt. Now I want to keep them.
“If I get any offers on this thing, I’ll look at them. So far I have only received an offer for a rematch and I accepted it,” said Beterbiev when asked if he would be open to moving to cruiserweight after this fight.
“I can accept any fight if I have different offers. I’ll check with my team and accept it,” Beterbiev said when asked if he would be interested in fighting Canelo Alvarez or Jai Opetaia if he defeats Bivolo.
“28,” Beterbiev said when asked how old he was.
Buffalo tactics
At 34, he is too old to change now, and the only thing he can do differently in the second leg is to endure more. 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 offense.
Last time out, Beterbiev started slowly, allowing Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) to win the first quarter of the fight with his jab and quick left-right combinations.
Beterbiev started to look like himself in the middle of the fight. Bivol gained confidence and showed no respect for Arturo like he did in his recent fights against Malik Zinad, Lyndon Arthur and Gilberto Ramirez.
It is clear that Bivol misjudged Beterbiev and paid the price as he took the fight from the sixth round and never looked back. The score was 115-113, 116-112 for Beterbiev and 114-114.
It is interesting that many fans and fighters are in favor of Buffalo’s victory. They believe he did enough to win the first fight, even admitting he didn’t seem to win a single round since the sixth. They still think he won. It didn’t look like Bivol won.
For the victory of Buffalo, they will have to fight with more aggression, because Beterbiev will be under more pressure this time. The judges gave preference to Arturo’s attacking style compared to Bivol’s withdrawal.
“If I have a 10% chance, I will be much better,” Beterbiev said Queensberry promotions about how much progress he would like for the rematch with Bivola. “I can’t tell you. You will tell Buffalo. I know you are talking about me for Bivol,” Beterbiev said when asked what areas he wants to improve.
“I hope and believe that it will be a more interesting fight than the first one, because now we know each other,” said Beterbiev about the rematch with Bivola.
