Turki Alalshikh reiterated his hopes last Saturday night to make a trilogy fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol following Beterbiev’s 12-round majority decision defeat at The Venue in Riyadh. After the fight, Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) already said that he wants the trilogy match.
Beterbiev was understandably unhappy with the results of his rematch because he appeared to have done enough to win the fight, but the judges gave it to Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs). The scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 114-114. Bivol was mostly running the entire fight, not engaging, and making it VERY boring for the fans.
Running Not Boxing
I watched the fight twice, and had Beterbiev winning 7-5 on the first viewing and 8-4 on the second. He deserved the win, but the judges worked him over with their scoring, giving it to Bivol. I had no dog in this hunt and didn’t care who won the Beterbiev-Bivol 2 fight, but I saw it as a clear win for Beterbiev. Bivol looked like a track star, running around the ring, not wanting to engage, clinching, and making a mess of the fight. So awful to look at.
“He deserves it, and we want to see the third,” said Turki Alalshikh to the Stomping Ground about his wanting to make the trilogy fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol next. “If Artur accepts, we will have the third.”
People on social media say they don’t want to see a third fight and are more partial to David Benavidez getting a crack at the four titles against Bivol or, preferably, against Beterbiev. That’s the far more entertaining fight. If the ultimate goal is to entertain fans and not bore them, Beterbiev vs. Benavidez is the way to go. Bivol’s fighting style is a cup of poison for the fans.
As we’ve seen in this era of boxing, titles no longer matter. It’s more about entertaining the fans. Runners like Dmitry Bivol and Shakur Stevenson don’t belong in headliner fights or even on the main cards. They belong on preliminary cards. Turki wants to save boxing, but he’s working against his goal by putting on fights that won’t entertain casual fans, who only watch the sport on rare occasions. For the good of the sport, runners should be placed on prelim cards and fan-pleasing fighters-only main cards.
“Of course, we’re not 16. We’re almost 40 years old [correction: Beterbiev IS 40], and I’m not shaking hands with my opponent is kind of weird, but if he’s like this, no problem,” said Bivol about to the media, revealing that Beterbiev didn’t want to shake his hand after their fight.
“I came to him after the fight in the ring, and I told him that I respect him, and I shook his hand. After this, he spoke to Turki Alalshikh, and he came to us, and he said, ‘I will shake your hand only after the third fight,’ and I congratulated him.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Bivol when asked if he prefers to fight Beterbiev or David Benavidez next. “I could be better,” said Dmitry on whether he’ll be better in the trilogy with Artur. “I wasn’t 100% happy with what I did in the ring.”
Last Updated on 02/23/2025
