Beterbiev To Hearn: “Always Something”

Artur Beterbiev was not happy to hear from Dmitry Bivol's promoter, Eddie Hearn, commenting that he disagreed with the decision from their previous fight on October 12th. Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) seemed annoyed, saying Hearn always has something he doesn't “agree with.”

Hearn suffered a seizure after three-belt unification champion Beterbiev defeated his fighter, WBA champion Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), scuppering his plans for a lucrative rematch with Canelo Alvarez. How many chances will Bivol have if he loses again and is given another fight against Beterbiev?

He didn't want to fight when the going got tough last time and ran away when the going got tough for him. While some fans felt that Bivolu should have won the first fight with Beterbiev, they clearly formed their opinion after the first five rounds as his submission white flag was raised from the sixth round onwards. He had no fight in him, turned tail and ran away from the sixth onwards. Hearn helped muddy the waters by constantly complaining about the decision, but Buffalo clearly lost.

I know there was a lot of money on the line if Bivolo won because there would be a fight against Canelo. If Bivol had won, do you really believe that Beterbiev would have gotten an immediate rematch?

No way on Earth. That would have been Canelo vs. Bivolo 2. As for Beterbiev, he had to work his way back into a title fight by fighting the winner of the David Benavidez vs. David Morel fight because he isn't as well connected as Bivolo .

Will Beterbiev spoil things?

Hearn hoped Bivolo could take Beterbiev's three titles and use the undisputed 175-pound championship as bait to get Canelo to step up to face him. Beterbiev broke it all down, mercilessly attacking the timid boxer Bivolu, chasing him to the ring in the last six rounds to win a 12-round majority decision by scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 114-114.

I agreed with the 8-4 score for Beterbiev, but it was amusing, if not predictable, that Hearn went on a rampage afterwards, complaining that Buffalo deserved the win. He wasn't. The only way to give Buffalo a win is if the judges stop scoring the fight after six rounds. If this had been six rounds, Buffalo would have won easily.

Hearn's fighter, Bivol, gets another chance against Beterbiev in their rematch on February 22 in Riyadh. If Buffalo can't win this fight, it's a waste of time to have a trilogy. If Bivolo wins, he will have the titles to lure Canelo. If this fight does not happen, there is always the trilogy with Beterbiev, which Bivolu can stop at.

If he loses on points, Hearn will likely scream bloody murder and complain that Buffalo deserved the win again.

It will be interesting to see if Turki Al-Sheikh sympathizes with Hearn's complaints and gives Buffalo another undeserved third fight instead of giving the winner of David Beterbiev vs. David Morrell vs. Artur a chance. American fans want to see new blood in there with Beterbiev, instead of seeing the running back, Bivolu get continuous chances.

“Yes, he did a good job. We can say the hardest battle,” said Artur Beterbiev to BoxNation when asked if Dmitry Bivol is the toughest fight of his career so far. “Eddie Hearn always disagrees with something,” Beterbiev said, reacting to reports that Buffalo's promoter Eddie Hearn disagreed with the decision from their previous fight on October 12. “It's always something.

“I'm honored to be main eventing this card. Big fight, they do. It was a good experience. Unbelievable, they did a good job for boxing,” Beterbiev said of the Saudis.

“It was a good fight; it was good for boxing fans”, they told Bivol BoxNation about his previous fight against Beterbiev. “It wasn't the best fight I had and it was a good lesson for me. I learned a lot from this fight and I need to improve. I love fighting in Riyadh because they do beautiful events, great events. Every fighter wants that and I'm looking forward to getting back.

“Of course, every camp is different and we've made some changes as well, which I'll talk about after the fight. I'm glad to have this chance”, Bivole said.

Revenge of the mind… 💭

🎥 @bivol_d | #BetterbievBivol2 | #RiyadhSeason | February 22, live on DAZN | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/hPwhSjeEJd

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 17, 2025