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Every time it takes place the most important and anticipated fight of the season It palpitates in a unique and special way in the boxing calendar. And today will not be the exception. The fight between Artur Beterbiev, WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion, and Dmitry Bivol, WBA light heavyweight titleholder, adds incredible potential for an endless number of reasons that defy the most basic logic of boxing: two Russians, face to face, paralyzing the World on a supreme stage like the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia. Yes, until the unification of this crown – the 15th. in history – seems to lose interest in the face of the imposing nature of the match itself; conceived thanks to the merger of the main promoters associated with the local sheikh Turki Alalshik, whose fortune is around three billion dollars. The twelve-round fight will begin at approximately 6 p.m. in Argentina and will be televised by DAZN, a streaming system, at a cost of $19 additional to the monthly subscription.
Artur Beterbiev is 39 years old. He is surly and not very sociable. He won his 20 fights by KO and began collecting ecumenical crowns starting in 2017. He survived massacres and youth fights in the Dagestan region, between the Soviet mountains and the Caspian Sea. He was able to achieve his own fulfillment through boxing. As? Changing your luck. Taking refuge in Moscow, establishing himself as an Olympic athlete. He competed at the 2012 London Games, where he was eliminated by Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, current world heavyweight champion.
He was able to convert all that fury and rage from the past into strength and vigor – physical and mental – basic to building an admirable boxing career. It is all power, although the passage of time and his physical declines – the recent tear of a meniscus in one of his knees and some other muscular problem – begin to condition his future. For these reasons, he only made nine World Cup matches in seven years of leadership.
It is rustic, slow and accurate; with a continuity of shipments and aiming similar to that of a war bomber. He has lived and spent his entire career in Canada since 2013. He has that nationality and his four children were born there. He took on that representativeness, thanks to which he avoided the marginalization that Russian athletes suffered after the start of the war with Ukraine.
He is 33 years old and was born in the Russian dominion of Kyrgyzstan. With a Moldovan father and a Korean mother, he is docile, kind and has a very low profile. He tenderly remembers his adolescence in front of the television watching all the novels by actress Natalia Oreiro.
He won the WBA crown in 2016 and made 14 defenses of the title. His great victory over the Mexican Saúl Canelo Alvarez, in May 2022, not only earned him $5 million but also the consideration of the boxing world: his figure shot to the top.
He is also undefeated in his 25 fights (13 by KO). He lacks the lightning punch that characterizes Beterbiev, but doubles him in speed and technical resources. Above all, in aim and precision of legs. And these attributes give it a minuscule position of favorite in the criteria of LA NACION, coinciding with the main betting houses.
What is the historical pressure of the Beterbiev vs. fight? Bivol? They will compete with the great historical champions of this division. They will be compared to James Toney, Harry Greb, Billy Conn, Gus Lesnevich, Archie Moore, Bob Foster, Víctor Galíndez, Michael Spinks and Roy Jones, the best of all time at 79.378 kg. And this implies tremendous merit.
They will need to be brilliant. One hundred percent to be able to create an epic fight. If they achieve this, they will not only have achieved a colossal victory, the most important of their lives; They will also cherish the possibility of entering a pompous space reserved for very few. And this will transcend more than the photo with his right hand raised.
According to the criteria of