After a highly anticipated and closely contested battle, Artur Beterbiev can now call himself the one and only king of boxing’s light heavyweight division.
Beterbiev defeated Dmitry Bivol to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion in the main event of a card held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 39-year-old retained the IBF, WBO, and WBC titles in this contest, in addition to capturing the WBA (Super) title held by Bivol.
With the win, Beterbiev has become the first undisputed light heavyweight champion since Roy Jones Jr. accomplished the feat in 2000 — and the first in the four-belt era.
Beterbiev and Bivol battered one another, with the two bringing war for the full 12 rounds that the fight lasted.
The latter got off to a strong start over the first couple of rounds before Beterbiev picked up the pace in the third frame and turned up the pressure more in the fourth. Beterbiev continued to land power shots in the fifth round, but Bivol defended well and responded with strong combinations in the sixth.
Both men appeared to do damage in the seventh round, with Bivol rocking Beterbiev early before Beterbiev pressured him before the round’s end. After a quieter eighth stanza, Bivol worked his counterpunching and defense well over the next two rounds. Beterbiev then brought back the pressure in the 11th before a close, competitive final round.
Beterbiev Captures Undisputed Light Heavyweight Title With Close, Controversial Decision Over Bivol
One judge scored the fight a draw 114-114. However, he was overruled by the other two judges with scores of 115-113 and 116-112 in Beterbiev’s favor.
This was the first time that Beterbiev did not score a KO or TKO in his professional career.
The Russian captured the IBF light heavyweight title with a KO of Enrico Kolling in November 2017. He won the WBC title by defeating Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019 and the WBO title with a win over Joe Smith Jr. in June 2022.
Bivol, meanwhile, won the WBA (Regular) light heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of Trent Boradhurst in November 2017. He was elevated to WBA (Super) champion in October 2019.
