Beterbiev punches his ticket to the hall of fame.

[pound per pound]

At his advanced age, he just won a legacy fight vs.  a much younger and accomplished  ( age 33 ) Bivol. Men who are 39 years old seldom do this.

I think he has punched his way to the boxing hall of fame, and to think he's not retiring!  

Does Canleo want to come out and play?

[Baby Face Finster]

I don't watch boxing anymore but this does not surprise me. I knew when I used to watch Beterbiev fight that he was the cream of the crop at Light Heavyweight. There were people who thought Sergey Kovalev could beat Beterbiev.

Beterbiev would have beaten both Kovalev and Andre Ward.

[Thomastearns]

Even had he lost, and there are many of us who think he did, his record of 20 wins, 20 KO's had already assured him of that.

Sergey Kovalev was probably watching that and thinking 'if only?'.

If nothing else, Beterbiev proved beyond any doubt that taking good care of your body and living clean pays off in this sport.

As does the ability to dig deep inside when confronted with a new challenge.

To me it looked as if Beterbiev was beginning to doubt himself halfway through the fight. He had no answer to Bivol's superb defence and was losing rounds at will.

Somehow he found the energy to continue to push forward and pressure the younger man for the entire 12 rounds.

That fight was up there with Joshua v Usyk 2 for sheer quality. By the end I was feeling exhausted just from watching.

This is exactly what the very best fights often look like.

[pound per pound]

I don't watch boxing anymore but this does not surprise me. I knew when I used to watch Beterbiev fight that he was the cream of the crop at Light Heavyweight. There were people who thought Sergey Kovalev could beat Beterbiev.

Beterbiev would have beaten both Kovalev and Andre Ward.

Yes, it would have been fun to watch Ward's game of clinching and fouling vs. a stronger fighter in Beterbiev. The cheater would get knocked out.

[IRONFIST]

Bivol was the clear winner and was robbed due to politricks as Lenny Lewis would say.

[PUGLET]

Andre Ward… where you at?

[JCS]

Bivol was the clear winner and was robbed due to politricks as Lenny Lewis would say.

I didn't see a robbery here...

They landed almost the same amount of power punches, but Beterbiev threw almost twice as many. Hard to win a fight like that if you're the other guy.

[joshj909]

Beterbiev, Bivol, Ward, Calzaghe, Jones Jr, Hopkins.

That's a very high quality list of (future) hall of famers over the past couple of decades that have reigned over or passed through this weight class.

[DrDuke]

Well, not a HOF type of a win over Bivol, since the majority scoring for Bivol.

On paper it's historically great.

[joshj909]

Well, not a HOF type of a win over Bivol, since the majority scoring for Bivol.

On paper it's historically great.

It's the type of result that will hang over the reflection of his career upon retirement if he ducks the rematch because Turki will be willing to pay big money for it again. Great fighters need great opponents and Bivol/Beterbiev need each other to solidify themselves as all time great of the division.

[IRONFIST]

Bivol was the clear winner and was robbed due to politricks as Lenny Lewis would say.

I didn't see a robbery here...

They landed almost the same amount of power punches, but Beterbiev threw almost twice as many. Hard to win a fight like that if you're the other guy.

Take off the Beterbiev blinkers, a blind man could see Bivol was the clear winner.

[JCS]

Bivol was the clear winner and was robbed due to politricks as Lenny Lewis would say.

I didn't see a robbery here...

They landed almost the same amount of power punches, but Beterbiev threw almost twice as many. Hard to win a fight like that if you're the other guy.

Take off the Beterbiev blinkers, a blind man could see Bivol was the clear winner.

Beterbiev blinkers? Weird statement.

Calling this a robbery, pretty much invalidates the use of the term.

[amwsnw]

I think this result will cloud things but regardless both should find themselves in hof. I had Bivol 7-5. But some close rounds. Either way good fight.

[margaret thatcher]

bivol barely won a clear round after the 2nd and lost the final three, no way was this a robbery. i really dont get where all that has come from

[joshj909]

bivol barely won a clear round after the 2nd and lost the final three, no way was this a robbery. i really dont get where all that has come from

He moved more and looked flashier which catches the eye more but Beterbiev just landed more cleaner punches in the second half of the fight. I can understand the arguments either way. They both left too many rounds in the hands of the judges, who we all know can't be trusted. If either of them put 10% more into each round they'd have won the fight clearly. It was just too close to be a robbery. A draw, majority decision, split decision or even a close unanimous decision would've all been fair while a wide unanimous decision would've been the only robbery in my opinion.