Artur Beterbiev says he will be different in his rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22 in Riyadh. Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) is expected to put Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) under constant pressure, forcing him to fight or run.
In the last part of their battle on October 12, Bivol suffered heavy damage from Beterbiev’s continuous fire. Although Bivol had his gloves up to block the punches, the impact from Beterbiev’s hard shots went through his gloves and into his face, injuring them. Blocking doesn’t work when someone hits hard like Beterbiev.
No more respect
Beterbiev understands now that he fought the wrong way last time. In the first five rounds, he showed Bivol a lot of respect for not attacking him relentlessly. Artur deviated from his usual grappling style, allowing Bivol to win rounds that he wouldn’t have won had he been pressured the entire time.
“The opponent is the same, but it’s a new battle, and I have to prepare differently. He wants to do everything differently,” said Artur Beterbiev on the George Groves Boxing Club YouTube channel, discussing his rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22.
“With my team, we will learn more about the details that I will not tell you. I did enough to win, but I want to do better,” said Beterbiev about his first fight with Bivol on October 12. “I don’t know. We will see but my focus is the same,” said Artur about the replay.
“No, I don’t care about this,” said Beterbiev when asked if he was worried about not getting a knockout in his fight with Bivol.
🥶 @ABeterbiev #BeterbievBivol2 | #RiyadhSeason | Feb 22, live on DAZN | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/ezvdJhax8O
– DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 16, 2025
The judges awarded Beterbiev a 12-round majority decision victory in their last fight on October 12 in Riyadh. There was a lot of anger among many fans of Bivol and his promoter, Eddie Hearn.
They felt that his boxing in the first round was enough to win, but they ignored the fact that he stopped fighting after five rounds and ran like a man being chased by a dog. It’s interesting how fans form opinions based on what they see at the beginning of the first rounds and then close their minds to what happens in the second half of the fights. It is human nature.
Lazy people make snap judgments and turn their brains off afterwards. Bivol lost the fight in the second half because he failed to stand up and fight. Fear had come over him and dominated his strength to fight Beterbiev.
