The scorecards in Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 were the same as their first fight — but in the other fighter’s favor.
Bivol scored a majority decision win over Beterbiev in the main event of a card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to become the new undisputed light heavyweight champion and hand the Russian-Canadian his first loss in the professional boxing ring, just as Beterbiev did to him months ago.
From the second the fight opened, it was as closely contested as their first. Beterbiev looked to bring pressure right away in the first round, but the challenger worked his hands well to bring it back. Bivol continued to keep busy in the third round, keeping this pace up through various combinations thrown.
Beterbiev respond well over the next couple of rounds, bringing intense pressure and a dominating attack to the body. Bivol, in fact, had a notable mark on his forehead by the end of the fifth round, a frame which seemed to show the challenger getting visibly hurt by a Beterbiev right hand.
After a quiet sixth round, Beterbiev kept his control of the fight in tact, up until his rival started to gain momentum toward the end of the seventh. Bivol then got back to landing better combinations and reset the momentum in his favor, seeming to get a second bursts of attack and control on.
The 34-year-old continued this pacing as he let his hands go more as the fight got later. Beterbiev, however, was not going down without a fight, landing strong punches in the final round, cutting open his challenger over one of his eyes.
Dmitry Bivol Avenges Loss To Artur Beterbiev, Wins Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship
One judge scored the bout 114-114, but they were overruled by scores of 115-113 and 116-112 in Bivol’s favor.
Bivol now gets a taste of revenge after losing the WBA light heavyweight title in his first undisputed title encounter with Beterbiev in October.
Bivol was WBA (Regular) champion in 2017 before becoming WBA (Super) champion in 2019. Bivol’s loss to Beterbiev was his first, having had an unbeaten record that saw him score victories over Canelo Alvarez, Gilberto Ramirez, Jean Pascal and Joe Smith Jr.
Beterbiev had won the IBF light heavyweight title originally in November 2017, defeating Enrico Kolling. He then defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019 to win the WBC title and Smith Jr. in June 2022 to win the WBO gold.
