BoxRec

Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (18-1) has advised BS.com that he has accepted a fight against Artur Beterbiev (11-0) to determine the mandatory challenger to IBF champion Andre Ward who also captured the WBA and WBO titles when he defeated Sergey Kovalev this past November.

A deal has not been reached as of yet - but Barrera's promoter, Main Events, informed the IBF that their fighter is ready and willing to take part in the ordered final eliminator. Beterbiev is the highest ranked contender at #2 while Barrera is ranked #9 by the organization.

http://www.BS.com/sullivan-bar ... 86fe1.dpuf

Good fight! I'm glad Beterbiev is finally getting a legit contender in the ring with him.

Excellent matchup.

Barrera has more courage than others who have been avoiding Beterbiev. He requested to Kathy Duva make the fight.

It may happen as soon as March 4, according to the French-Canadian media.

I like this fight. First real test for Beterbiev, I wonder what network it will be on?
I will be pulling for Barrera but favour Beterbiev but not by much.

victor-romeo wrote:I like this fight. First real test for Beterbiev, I wonder what network it will be on?

Likely PBC, as well as French-Canadian TV.

Beterbiev is a Haymon-managed boxer.

Beterbiev by KO

Boxing Writer wrote:Beterbiev by KO

Yes. Probably early too.

Good Lord, someone with guts accepted it, let's hope a great fight + Beterbiev's KO...

I favor Beterbiev based on watching him fight Usyk on youtube in the amatuers. Usyk won the fight I watched but Beterbiev was like a tank in there. Also I favor Beterbiev due to his amateur pedigree, and watching him demolish a couple of preordained pro victims on TV.
On the other hand Barrera has been more active lately fighting a higher level of competition aka Ward and Shabranskyy, which gives me some hope Barrera might win.

Barrera's got balls, but not a good enough chin to hang with Beterbiev since he's not tricky enough to discourage getting hit by a Beterbiev bomb.

Beterbiev will send Barrera to

Barrera can punch too and Artur doesn't have a granite chin.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Artur doesn't have a granite chin.

What is an evidence of that ?

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Barrera can punch too and Artur doesn't have a granite chin.

Yeah. That's Barrera's only shot, but it puts him in Beterbiev's wheelhouse. Best to fight Artur from the outside and make him reach and hit him with a counter. Kovalev would make a mess out of both from the outside.

boxing_rocks wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Artur doesn't have a granite chin.

What is an evidence of that ?

Page knocked him down.

watch bert ridicouling the guy ward had so much problem inside 4 rds

Ive also seen him seriously wobbled in an amateur fight. It may not mean much at all, but I dont think he's really proven his chin yet in the pros.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

boxing_rocks wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Artur doesn't have a granite chin.

What is an evidence of that ?

Page knocked him down.

I think that was just being caught off balance. It is not good that he got caught like that, but I don't think that it says much about his chin quality. He immediately got up and showed no signs of being hurt.

getting knocked down doesnt mean to have a bad chin. ali did get knocked known from a german guy and ali had atg chin.

Jip wrote:getting knocked down doesnt mean to have a bad chin. ali did get knocked known from a german guy and ali had atg chin.

Germans are genetically superior though, no shame of getting knocked down by one.

crusader wrote:Ive also seen him seriously wobbled in an amateur fight. It may not mean much at all, but I dont think he's really proven his chin yet in the pros.

Yeah, I'm not saying his chinny but Barrera has sharp, hard counters. Not that I'm picking him, just worth noting when everyone is calling for a massacre.

Jip wrote:getting knocked down doesnt mean to have a bad chin. ali did get knocked known from a german guy and ali had atg chin.

Where do you get bad chin from my post?

boxing_rocks wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

boxing_rocks wrote:
What is an evidence of that ?

Page knocked him down.

I think that was just being caught off balance. It is not good that he got caught like that, but I don't think that it says much about his chin quality. He immediately got up and showed no signs of being hurt.

It says that he was knocked down by a fighter far inferior to barrera. Might not mean a thing, it's just worth noting. I'd be surprised if he isn't hurt or dropped.

Really like this fight. Barrera was very impressive in his last fight.

Glad to see this fight is finally happening. These two were suppose to fight in 2015, but Barrera had visa issues with traveling to Canada.

Solid fight. Honestly, I have to lean towards Beterbiev here.