Artur Beterbiev has a big decision to make for his next fight.
He became undisputed light heavyweight champion after a majority decision victory over Dmitry Bivol in Saudi Arabia this past weekend.
It was an extremely tight contest with a lot of close rounds, but in the end the judges gave it in Beterbiev’s favour, scoring it 114-114, 115-113, and 116-112.
While some onlookers felt the verdict was fair, a lot of figures from within boxing felt that Bivol should have won, including Ryan Garcia, Shakur Stevenson, and Eddie Hearn.
There was some criticism given for the 116-112 scorecard, leading to calls for Beterbiev to have an immediate rematch against Bivol.
With that in mind, the newly crowned undisputed champion was asked by iFL TV if he would welcome the rematch next – and made it clear that it’s the most likely option.
“Yeah, I think so, yes.”
He was then asked how it feels to finally be undisputed champion at 175lbs.
“Not bad, a good feeling. I spent more than 30 years in this sport. To be in this sport and not be a bad boxer is good.”
His trainer John Scully also gave his backing to running it back with Bivol next.
“We wouldn’t need to go to cruiserweight. No disrespect at all, but I don’t even know any cruiserweight champions are. So fights with Benavidez and Buatsi, I think those would be big light-heavyweight fights. But I think everybody in the world would say today they have to do a rematch. I think everybody would say that.”
The defeat to Beterbiev was the first time that Bivol has been beaten as a professional, having previously gone unbeaten in his 23 fights prior to that.
One man he took on previously and won against was Canelo Alvarez, and Bivol has now revealed who he feels hits harder out of Beterbiev and the Mexican superstar.
Leave a Reply