Artur Beterbiev secured undisputed status at light-heavyweight with a controversial win over Dmitry Bivol on Saturday.
Beterbiev entered Saudi Arabia as unified champion, holding the WBC, WBO and IBF belts, and he took Bivol’s WBA title via majority decision.
The scorecards read 114-114, 115-113, 116-112 in favour of Beterbiev, with the latter scorecard seeming surprisingly wide after the tense, strategic showdown.
Bivol, 33, is known as the slicker technician, while Beterbiev, 39, is famed for his power – which had forged a 20-0 record with 20 knockouts before Saturday (12 October).
And Bivol’s tidy work seemed to build him an early lead, although Beterbiev continually pressed forward and sporadically showed his strength.
Bivol impressed with his bravery and composure, often standing in front of the harder hitter and crafting trademark combinations, although at many points he was forced to skip around the ring and throw short shots to deter Beterbiev.
As the momentum swayed, Bivol seemed to pull ahead in the middle rounds, before Beterbiev came on strong in the final frames – occasionally forcing Bivol to cover up and hold on for the bell.
Even so, the 116-112 scorecard in the Russian-Canadian’s favour will surprise many viewers, with the consensus being that a draw or narrow win for either fighter would have been fair. Regardless, Bivol – also of Russian descent but with Kyrgyzstani heritage – will leave Riyadh with a first professional loss to his name (23-1, 12 KOs).
Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, told DAZN: “In one of the biggest fights of our generation, the most important fight of Dmitry Bivol’s life, you give him four rounds? It’s disgusting.
“You heard Beterbiev’s corner in the 10th round: They told him he had to knock him out. [Even Beterbiev’s promoters] Top Rank knew he’d lost. I’m absolutely baffled and disgusted. I don’t want to disrespect Artur Beterbiev…
“That judge should never work again. Four rounds [to Bivol] in a fight of this magnitude is disgusting.”
Frank Warren, meanwhile, said he scored the fight for Bivol by “a couple of rounds”, calling the 116-112 scorecard “ridiculous” and “a joke”.