Last Five Fights: Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol

Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol have proven themselves the best light heavyweights in the world, and will meet again on Saturday.

Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol are set to rematch tomorrow in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Beterbiev defending the undisputed light heavyweight championship, which fully unified in their first bout last October, a debated majority decision in the same city.

Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KO) and Bivol (23-1, 12 KO) have clearly established themselves as the two premier 175 lb fighters of their generation, and have proven time and again their superiority in the division over the years.

Let’s take a look at the last five fights from each man.

Artur Beterbiev’s Last Five

Marcus Browne (W-KO-9)

Beterbiev got bloody in this one, though it came from a clash of heads in the fourth round. Browne got bloody in this one, because Beterbiev battered him with his fists. And really, the first thing was kind of the worst thing for the American challenger in Beterbiev’s adopted hometown of Montreal.

Once Beterbiev was alerted to the possibility of the cut stopping the fight early, and Browne having done OK scorecard-wise to that point, it was over. He laid on a heavy assault and Browne just could not hang, succumbing to the pressure as Beterbiev violently broke him down with not just big firepower, but superior skills.

Browne was down in the seventh round and could have been pulled after that frame, but continued on into the ninth. A body shot put him down again, and Browne took the 10-count, giving up on what had been a game effort before the fight was beaten out of him. Browne didn’t fight again for nearly two years, returning with a small fight win over Adrian Taylor in Aug. 2023, and hasn’t fought since that outing.

Joe Smith Jr (W-TKO-2)

Smith had the home court advantage in New York and the crowd turned up for him at Madison Square Garden’s Theater venue. Less than six minutes after the opening bell, the hometown rooters were left stunned by how easily their man had been chopped down.

This one was a straight demolition job by Beterbiev, who did not dilly-dally with the limited but powerful — and thus dangerous — Smith, who was down late in the first round and then three more times in the second before the fight was called off.

“We’re two fighters who both have a good punch, and we both tried to land first,” Beterbiev said in the ring. “This time, I was lucky, I got him first. That’s it.”

The win netted Beterbiev the WBO title, adding to the WBC and IBF belts he already held, and stated his clear intention to try for undisputed.

Anthony Yarde (W-TKO-8)

Yarde gave Beterbiev a legitimate test before being broken down. At the time of the stoppage, Beterbiev led on scores of 67-66 and 68-65 on two cards, and Yarde was up 67-66 on the third.

Yarde gave the effort of his career in what was really a terrific fight, but the inevitability of Beterbiev felt like it had come into play for the last few rounds of the bout, before Yarde was dropped and stopped in round eight.

It was another road win for Beterbiev, who went to London for this three-belt defense. When you fight like Beterbiev, and don’t really leave things in the hands of the judges, going on the road can be a lot less daunting.

Callum Smith (W-TKO-7)

Beterbiev got the home advantage in this one, as Smith came over to Quebec City, and it was one where he again just kind of put the leather on someone from the jump. Maybe it’s something about guys called Smith.

Callum was tough and there to fight, but never really in this one, as Beterbiev dropped the British veteran and former super middleweight titlist for the first time in Smith’s career. In fact, Smith went down twice in the seventh round before trainer Buddy McGirt fully entered the ring to make sure the referee saw him, calling a halt to the increasingly one-sided violence.

Dmitry Bivol (W-MD-12)

Facing the toughest test of his career, Beterbiev went the distance for the first time as a professional, nicking a majority decision over Bivol in a controversial — but not controversial! — decision. One of mostly civil debate, rather than overwhelming screaming about robbery or corruption. Some of that, of course, but more civil debate than usual.

BLH had two unofficial cards of 114-114, with slightly different paths to getting there, and that says plenty about how tight this one was. It was excellent, high-level boxing between two very different but equally clever and crafty technicians.

It was the final three rounds that wound up clinching the fight for Beterbiev, as he swept rounds 10-12 on all three official scorecards.

Saturday’s rematch figures to be a continuation, but you never know until you know. We could potentially see more fireworks this weekend than we did last October.

Dmitry Bivol’s Last Five

Canelo Alvarez (W-UD-12)

Bivol beat Canelo so cleanly and clearly that even A-side leaning judges had this one 115-113 across the board for Canelo. As much as they might have tried, or wanted to try, they couldn’t get it to Canelo. They couldn’t even get it to even.

It was a master class performance from Bivol, who was simply better than the more celebrated and genuinely great Canelo on the night. Bivol out-boxed a fantastic boxer and proved his own worth at the highest level of the sport.

Bivol’s performance matched what Canelo had been trying to sincerely tell a skeptical public, that someone of Bivol’s caliber was absolutely a threat. Easy now to forget that many had dismissed Bivol as an easy choice of opponent by Alvarez.

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (W-UD-12)

Zurdo Ramirez got the call to face Bivol six months after the Canelo win, rather than the rematch that would have been easy to expect for money reasons. This fight in Abu Dhabi is fairly easy to forget now, too, but once again Bivol dominated, this time facing a naturally bigger man.

And Ramirez, who had held a world title at 168, has gone on to win a world title at cruiserweight, too. This was another sincerely quality win for Bivol, who out-crafted another opponent en route to a wide and clear decision win.

Lyndon Arthur (W-UD-12)

Bivol’s debut in Riyadh was the start of the road to fighting Beterbiev last year.

Arthur came in a credible underdog, having won four in a row following his rematch loss to Anthony Yarde, whom he had beaten previously. Those wins were against opponents nowhere near the class of Bivol, and the difference showed in the ring.

Bivol officially — and to anyone with eyes — won all 12 rounds of the bout, dropping Arthur with a body shot in the 11th round to secure another thorough and complete victory.

Malik Zinad (W-TKO-6)

Bivol faced Zinad on fairly short notice on the date he was originally slated to face Beterbiev, who came up injured and left Bivol to either wait on him or stay busy. He chose to stay busy.

The resulting mismatch could have been a lot more boring, frankly, but Zinad came there to fight, and Bivol took the fight seriously enough that the skill gap between the two was obvious quickly.

Bivol dropped Zinad on a hook in the opening round and dominated the bout before the stoppage at 2:06 of round six. It was Bivol’s first stoppage win since early 2018, when he got a TKO over Sullivan Barrera in that fight’s 12th and final round.

Artur Beterbiev (L-MD-12)

With the loss to Beterbiev last October, Bivol now will return trying to bounce back for the first time in his pro career.