Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol | PPV - 12 October 2024

[quickeyg]

June 1st Fight Party incoming.






EPIC 4K UHD Fight Promo

[SeanBrennan]

I did enjoy the trailer, very well made.

[Delta Jay]

Jesus H Christ on a bike, Mary and Joseph and the little fuckin donkey that’s some card that.

Absolutely buzzing for it.

The wide range of predictions and the bookies having both of them perfectly level, it’s as 50/50 as I’ve ever seen.

If he carries on like this I’m gonna start calling him His Excellency myself.

[Boxerbeetle]

His Excellency = first ballot Hall of Famer.

[Kilburn]

Of course this match up is about more than those KO stats, but I really struggle to pick Bivol in this one when he threw the kitchen sink at Lyndon Arthur and never really had him in big trouble.

Beterbiev might be old but doesn’t fight like it, yet. Got to go with the guy who can do the damage.

[Delta Jay]

His Excellency = first ballot Hall of Famer.

[IrishGuy]

Can't see anyone beating bivol anytime soon

[Ruthless-RKO]

Top Rank President Admits Beterbiev-Bivol Could Not Have Happened ‘On This Timeline’ With Saudi Arabian Support

The president of Top Rank Todd duBoef has admitted that the intervention of Saudi Arabia is what has allowed the light heavyweight unification fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitrii Bivol to take place with the fighters close to their primes.

Beterbiev, who holds the WBC, WBO and IBF belts, and Bivol – the WBA champion – went face-to-face in London yesterday to formally announce their June 1 superfight in Saudi Arabia.

“When the fans call for years to see fights that never happen, now they can happen where His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] and the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] is helping facilitate these dream match-ups,” said duBoef. “Unifying the heavyweight title for the first time [in the four belt era] [firstly with Tyson Fury facing Oleksandr Usyk on May 18], seeing two of the great light heavyweights in the last decade finally go [two weeks later], contrasts of style – I love it.”

Beterbiev-Bivol has been at the top of boxing fans’ wishlists. Beterbiev is 20-0 (20 KOs) and 39-years-old, but it did not look like he had lost a step with a commanding win over Callum Smith in January.

Bivol is 22-0 (11 KOs) and outboxed Lyndon Arthur and coasted to a steady 12-round win over the Mancunian in December.

While duBoef would not say whether the dream fight would have ever happened with the influence of Saudi Arabia, he thinks it is happening now because of the wishes of the Kingdom and Turki Alalshikh.

“I don’t want to say yes or no, because I don’t know,” duBoef said, when asked whether the fight would have happened anyway. “A lot of it is expectation, it’s what their expectations are, and when there isn’t the opportunity for, ‘Hey, how can we facilitate it? We all come together, roll up our sleeves, sharpen our elbows and figure out how we can split and divide and conquer, and bring it to the place’.

“Obviously they’re helping facilitate that much easier and quicker, so we’d have to weigh with the expectations of where both guys are, but it couldn’t have happened on this timeline without their help.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Sulaiman Refuses To Talk Politics After U-Turn To Allow Bivol To Challenge Beterbiev For The WBC Belt

Mauricio Sulaiman has been in London this week as part of the announcement of the Saudi Arabia superfight between light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitrii Bivol, but the WBC president refused to talk politics.

The WBC has had a close relationship with Ukraine over the years, supporting Vitali Klitschko through his heavyweight championship career and hosting their annual convention in Kiev in 2018.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Russia faced international sanctions, Sulaiman declared that the WBC would not support a fight involving WBA champion Bivol.

“That is because of our position with Russia,” Sulaiman said. “[The] WBC would not accept that fight.”

Sulaiman was asked in London at Monday’s press conference what had changed for Bivol to now have the opportunity to take part in a unification fight, and challenge WBC, WBO and IBF champion Beterbiev.

“I’m not going to talk about anything other than boxing,” Sulaiman told BS. “I’m just happy and proud to be part of this fight. It’s a fight the world wants to see, a fight the world demands, a fight that both fighters deserve and the winner will be [the] undisputed world champion.”

Does this mean the WBC will be sanctioning fights in Russia now, moving forwards?

“Not at this moment,” Sulaiman added. “We are in the whole pro-peace, not only Russia and Ukraine, but the whole world, leading in a delicate time.”

Has the WBC president spoken to Bivol since he made his initial stance?

“Yes, I spoke to him in Riyadh last year, we had a very nice conversation,” replied Sulaiman.

Did they talk global affairs and about what had happened?

“Not politics,” Sulaiman added. “He’s a fighter, he’s a human being, he’s a father, we had a good conversation, his promoter Vadim [Kornilov], and I’m just happy for him and for [Artur] Beterbiev.”

So now the WBC will definitely be on the line in Saudi Arabia?

“Absolutely.”

Sulaiman admitted he was excited for the fight, which has been on the wishlist of boxing fans for several years.

“I’m very, very excited, this is a new era of boxing,” Sulaiman continued. “His Excellency Turki [Alalshikh] has come in a massive way with his innovation, innovative plans, and he’s making a big, real change for the betterment of the sport. [This is] a sensational, great fight – we’ll see which style prevails, the technique [Bivol] or the power and the aggressiveness [Beterbiev], it’s going to be a sensational night.”

Sulaiman held a promoter summit in Las Vegas in January, imploring many of boxing’s power brokers to work together. Ultimately, money is doing a better job of tightening friendships and making new ones than the overall desire to improve the sport, but Sulaiman admits money has always talked loudest in boxing, and he was pleased to see allegedly and Eddie Hearn share the Riyadh undercard with their 5x5 bill on June 1, beneath the light heavyweight main event.

“Well, like in your home, like in my house, in our business, everything, the way of making things, Don King and Bob Arum were arch-rivals, but whenever there was a fight that made sense financially, attractive, they were the best of friends,” Sulaiman said. “Money is a big factor, fighters fight for money, and to have the means to make these big fights, I believe it’s a great example to have rival promoters compete in the ring with their best talent and then move on.”

[MightyWarrior]

What a fight and what an undercard.

It reminds me of the late 70s and Harold Smith Junior appeared from nowhere with the big Bucks and said he was going to unify all the divisions, paying millions for the longtime rival champs to unify - it was just the WBC and the WBA back then. The boxing world couldn’t quite believe it, it seemed too good to be true. Turned out It was too good to be true. it wasn’t actually his money, and he was thrown in jail.

This seems too good to be true as well. What can possibly go wrong?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol postponed due to injury, rest of card goes on

Artur Beterbiev is injured, and his scheduled June 1 fight with Dmitry Bivol will be postponed.

Turki Alalshikh confirmed the news this evening. The rest of the June 1 card, featuring the Queensberry vs Matchroom 5v5 series, will go on as planned.

It’s not a new story for boxing fans, who have seen the 39-year-old Beterbiev fight just 20 times in an 11-year pro career partially because repeated injuries issues have been a plague on his activity. There were other reasons, too, but any Beterbiev fight seems about a 50/50 bet to actually happen on its originally scheduled date at this point, and this one won’t.

Bivol (22-0, 11 KO) and Beterbiev will be fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight championship, as Bivol holds the WBA title and Beterbiev owns the WBC, IBF, and WBO belts. It’s a long-awaited fight and one of the best to be made in all of boxing, so fans will be ready whenever Artur is.

The June 1 main event will now be Deontay Wilder vs Zhilei Zhang, both coming off of losses but also figuring to be such a potentially fascinating style matchup with two big-hitting heavyweights that this doesn’t matter as much as it normally might.

Beterbiev vs Bivol was already not going to be part of the pay-per-view portion of the show, as the fight was to air exclusively on ESPN+ in the United States, with the remainder of the show going through DAZN PPV, an odd set-up that now doesn’t even matter, it’s just a DAZN PPV.

[NoScoutingReports]

[rd350lc]

Seems like injury postponements is the new thing .

Can honestly say I've never known so many.

[jameswilson]

Piss flaps.

[wrighty]

Give Tommy TnT Fury his shot. He's ready.

[ALI]

Sh*t, fcuk, c*nt, motherf.... pish, cr*p, aaarrgh!!!!

What a dissapointment, absolutely gutted by this news.

[forcefraser]

I'm gonna find someone who deserves a beating and dish one out. This news has made me angry

At least bring in Yarde or Buatsi for Bivol.

[Manchester Hitman]

I'm gonna find someone who deserves a beating and dish one out. This news has made me angry

At least bring in Yarde or Buatsi for Bivol.

Hopefully Turki drafts one of those 2 in - if not we could get lumbered with Zach Parker

[THEBUTCH]

Buatsi deserves a shot. Yarde doesn't and Bivol will box his ears off anyway.

[Boxerbeetle]

Ffs

[SeanBrennan]

I don't think there is a replacement drafting in, it's just off the bill.

[Grilling Machine]

If/when it happens I see Beterbiev winning through sheer physical intensity, but this fight reminds me I also fancied Gassiev to find Usyk and he didn't. (Besides the shot Usyk stopped him from capitalising on.)

[magnus]

Seen a couple of articles suggesting this guy is in the frame for Bivol on 1st June:

https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/737291

[margaret thatcher]

malik there has an interesting profile, born in libya, based out of malta, and has fought all over: aus, belgium, uk, luxembourg, germany, slovenia, hungary, france malta,

[tony1234]

Should make this free to air not PPV now