Dmitry Bivol says he wants to throw more punches in his rematch with undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in 25 days on February 22nd in Riyadh.
Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) thinks he gave away the previous contest against Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) by not letting his hands go and shelling up when he was on the attack in their bout on October 12th.
A New Approach
Earlier in the fight, Bivol succeeded in throwing quick two-punch combinations and jabbing the slower Beterbiev. However, the fight got away from Bivol when Beterbiev seemed to stop caring about taking shots and began walking him down. Bivol wasn’t willing to take Beterbiev’s shots and chose to move.
“I don’t have much time to think about it and pity myself about it. I don’t like it,” said Dmitry Bivol to Fight Hub TV about his loss to Artur Beterbiev. “I want to move forward. It happened. Let’s close this door and move forward.
“Of course, I’m angry and disappointed, but it’s not teaching me too much. I don’t try to make this disappointment make it worse for me. I’m trying to make this disappointment for good to try and train harder. It depends on how it goes on. If I do my work excellently, it will be,” said Bivol when asked if he’d get the win if it goes 12 rounds.
“I feel I have to be much better, and I don’t leave doubt for the judges. It doesn’t matter how. I have to be excellent.”
Can He Change?
Every fighter wants to change, but so few rarely do. It’s just words. It will be hard for Bivol to change his tactics for the Beterbiev rematch because that’s been his style his entire career. Changing his boxing DNA will be difficult at 34.
Even if he briefly comes out more aggressively at the start of the fight, will he maintain it when Beterbiev begins putting him under fire? It’s doubtful; Self-preservation is built into every person, and Bivol will not want to put his health on the line by staying in the pocket and getting chipped apart by Beterbiev’s thunderous punches.
“There were some rounds where I felt, ‘This round didn’t benefit me, but I rest a little bit. The next round, I have to be better,’” said Bivol when asked if there was a point where he felt he wasn’t doing well in the first fight against Beterbiev.
“The next round was a little close. ‘It was a better round’ or ‘worse round.’ I have to throw more punches. Not let him throw. Even when I’m defending, I shouldn’t use my guard like this. I should use something else.”
If Bivol throws more punches, it means he can be countered by Beterbiev’s harder shots and hurt. That’s how the fight turned around in the seventh round last time. Bivol tried to throw a sustained combination and got staggered by a right-hand counter from Beterbiev. That incident zapped the fight out of Bivol, and he ran for the final five rounds.
Turki Al-Sheikh posted a new fight poster today on X, saying, “The final note plays,” which suggests that he may move in a different direction and let the winner of the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell fight on Saturday get a shot at the Beterbiev-Bivol 2 victor than running it back for a trilogy.
Bivol’s style of fighting, moving & holding isn’t entertaining for many fans compared to the more exciting style of Benavidez and Morrell. If Bivol loses again, Turki should nip the rivalry in the bud and let Benavidez or Morrell get a shot at Beterbiev. If Bivol is victorious against Beterbiev, seeing some new blood would still be more entertaining.
