Bivol 142 Punches, Beterbiev 137 Punches, Why Controversy?
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 05 Nov 2024
Almost 4 weeks ago the boxing world saw the best two light heavyweights (175lbs) in the world battle for supremacy in their division. Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) the unified IBF/WBC/WBO champion faced Dimitry Bivol (23-1, 12KOs) for the WBA title.
Prior to the fight Beterbiev boasted a 100% knockout ratio defeating all 20 opponents and unifying 3 of the major titles in the division. Beterbiev is a feared puncher who defeated anyone willing to fight him.
Bivol was undefeated as well proving he was an elite fighter when he defeated the face of boxing Canelo Alvarez with a shocking unanimous decision in 2022.
After 12 entertaining rounds, Beterbiev annexed Bivol’s WBA title and is truly the Undisputed Champion in the light heavyweight division. Or is he really?
Bivol was the first fighter to finish a fight with Beterbiev in 21 fights. When the fight ended at the end of 12 rounds, two judge’s scorecards were 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Beterbiev, and one judge scored the fight even 114-114. Beterbiev was declared the winner. Philboxing scored the fight 7 rounds for Beterbiev and 5 rounds for Bivol.
While many who watched the fight may feel that Beterbiev deserved the decision, many who watched the fight as well also feel Bivol won the fight. In looking at the fight, the momentum went back and forth. Some rounds were won by Bivol (early rounds), and some rounds were won by Beterbiev (middle rounds and some later rounds). Therefore, after 10 rounds it was an even fight in the view of many who watched the fight. In this Writer’s opinion, when watching the fight, whichever fighter won the last 2 rounds of the scheduled 12 rounds would be the victor.
Beterbiev seemed to be the fresher or less tired fighter in the last 2 rounds. He stalked, threw, and landed the more meaningful punches in the final 2 rounds. While Bivol looked exhausted and battered but had done an excellent job up until that point to fend off Beterbiev. Bivol appeared to maintain the same game plan in the final 2 rounds which was to box Beterbiev, but stand and fight in spurts. Bivol did box, but held or clinched Beterbiev and appeared to be in survival mode for the last 2 rounds. It also appeared as though he was determined not to be another knockout victim of Beterbiev.
Official Punch stats indicate Bivol landed 5 more additional punches than Beterbiev when the fight was over. For total punches landed Bivol threw and landed 147 and Beterbiev landed 134. Do the 5 more punches by Bivol really make a difference? What effect did those extra 5 punches have?
The 5 more punches by Bivol really made no difference. Look at Bivol’s face after the fight: https://sports.yahoo.com/bivol-vs-beterbiev-live-undefeated-110348213.html Also, look at Beterbiev’s face which was not swollen and bruised. Clearly, Beterbiev’s punches were more effective. The 5 more punches thrown and landed by Bivol could have been jabs or punches that clearly did not convince the Judges that Bivol did enough to deserve the decision victory.
So why the controversy that Bivol should have won? Yes, Bivol is an excellent boxer with great movement. Even Beterbiev said Bivol may be a better boxer than him. However, it appeared that Beterbiev was the more effective puncher for the fight and he finished strong. That is why, in this Writer’s opinion, 5 more punches by Bivol doesn’t make a difference. For every person that says Bivol won, This Writer can also find plenty who will agree Beterbiev won the fight. That’s how close the fight actually was.
While Philboxing unofficially scored the fight for Beterbiev, we would’ve accepted if the Judges scored the fight for Bivol or the other 2 Judges scored the fight a Draw the same as the third Judge. Reports from Bivol’s Promoter, Eddie Hearn, is that Saudi Promoter Turki Alalshikh, who was influential in making the fight, has indicated he will stage a rematch sometime next year. There is no doubt in this Writer’s mind that the second fight will be just as good as the first fight if not better. This Writer again predicts, like the last Prediction for the first fight, that Beterbiev will stop Bivol by knockout, even though he did not win by knockout in the first fight. But if it’s another close fight there shouldn’t be controversy as these two fighters are currently the two best in the division.
Boxing Notes
The wait and anticipation for David Benavidez vs David Morrel to be announced is just too much for the casual fight many of whom who check online daily for the official announcement. The fight will reportedly take place on Jan 25, 2025. The card will also feature the return of former WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo who makes his super middleweight debut. Gervonta “Tank” Davis may also fight on this card defending his WBA title against Lamont Roach, but as of the writing of this article nothing has been confirmed…Terrance Crawford has made it clear he wants to fight Canelo Alvarez in a “Big fight”. Canelo has not answered his challenge. Perhaps Crawford could make other “Big fights”, perhaps not as big as a Canelo fight. There is Jaron “Boots” Ennis and there is also the winner of the Spence vs Fundora fight. If Crawford beats Fundora a rematch with him does another 700,000 PPV buys or more. An Ennis or Fundora fight could easily sell a minimum of 500,000 PPV Buys or more if marketed properly. Let’s see what happens.
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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