Since its inception, Riyadh Season has provided fight fans with entertaining 50/50 fights, and on Saturday night, October 12th, Riyadh Season presents the ultimate 50/50 contest, as WBA light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will face WBC, WBO, IBF champion Artur Beterbiev.
At times, it seemed as if the potential Beterbiev vs. Bivol clash would fall under the category of great fights that never happened. Fortunately the two combatants were able to reach an agreement, and the bout is set to take place on October 12th at Kingdom Arena, in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, live on ESPN+. This battle for undisputed has all the elements in regards to this fight being an instant classic. It’s the traditional boxer versus puncher matchup in which both boxers are undefeated and they’re both currently performing at a high level. Dmitry Bivol was formerly introduced to the general public back in May 2022 when he battled a man who many consider to be the face of boxing. During his title defense against Canelo Alvarez, the WBA world champion unleashed his entire repertoire. Bivol controlled the distance, he used the jab, he consistently landed straight punches, his timing was on point, his counterattack was sharp, and he was defensively responsible. At the conclusion of the 12-round world title contest, Dmitry Bivol earned a unanimous decision victory. Six months later, Bivol defended his title against a Mexican boxer who came into the bout with 44 victories and no defeats. Once again, Bivol flexed his ring generalship and his technical skills as he out-pointed Gilberto Ramirez.
Back in June 2024, after winning nine straight bouts by way of unanimous decision, Bivol finally stopped an opponent when he scored a sixth-round TKO victory over Malik Zinad. Now Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) is on the verge of facing the toughest challenge of his professional career. As a boxer under the Top Rank umbrella, Artur Beterbiev consistently scored impressive knockouts on the ESPN telecasts. Each time Beterbiev stepped inside the squared circle, he overwhelmed his opponent with devastating power.
In June 2022, WBC, IBF light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev traveled to New York to face the WBO light-heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr. In a puncher vs puncher matchup, Artur Beterbiev dominated the New York native Joe Smith in front of his home crowd. In the final seconds of the opening round, Beterbiev caught Smith coming in as he landed a hard overhand right that sent Smith down to the canvas. Smith was able to get up, but he would revisit the canvas twice in the second round. After getting up from the third knockdown, Smith was badly hurt when Beterbiev landed a hard uppercut that made the referee step in and put a halt to the contest. Beterbiev would go on to score knockout victories over Anthony Yarde and Callum Smith. Now, the current unified light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) plans on defeating Dmitry Bivol, and accomplishing his goal of becoming an undisputed world champion.
Artur Beterbiev is a skilled, hard-hitting power puncher who likes to press forward. Beterbiev has a solid jab, he has good punch placement, and he has the ability to fight off of his back foot. Dmitry Bivol is an elite boxer who has all the tools. Bivol has the IQ, accuracy, timing, the footwork, punch placement, he’s an excellent counterpuncher, and he has the ability to set traps. With all of Bivol’s abilities, the most intriguing question is what will happen once Beterbiev cuts the ring off? Despite the fact that Dmitry Bivol has an immense amount of boxing talent, there will come a time during the course of this matchup when Bivol will have to stand his ground and fight Beterbiev. In 1999, Hall of Fame boxer Roy Jones Jr was the last undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the three-belt era. On Saturday night, in the highly anticipated legacy fight, the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol bout will become the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
