Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol squared off in the main event on October 12 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The pair battled it out for the first four-belt undisputed title at light heavyweight. The contest featured the Canada-based unified WBC, WBO and IBF champion against the WBA titleholder of Kyrgyzstan. Both fighters entered the boxing ring undefeated.
The world championship bout went the full distance. After 12 close rounds, one judge scored the fight 114-114, while two other judges had 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of a three-belt holder.
As a result, with the victory by majority decision, Artur Beterbiev retained his belts and added a missing strap to the collection. The 39-year-old, who heard the final bell for the first time in his pro career, improved to 21-0, 20 KOs.
“I feel not bad. I did not good today. I wanted to box today with more quality. I don’t know why, but I didn’t like this fight,” Beterbiev said. “But I’ll be better one day.”
“Of course, it’s a tough fight because Dmitry is a world champion, too. He has good skills, maybe better than me. But today, Allah chose me.”
“You know, during the fight, we always try to change something. But, you know, maybe I just wanted to punch him. Maybe that’s why I’m not delivering more punches. I don’t know.”
“If His Excellency wants it [a rematch], then we can do it.”
Dmitry Bivol fell short and lost his title. The 33-year-old dropped to 23-1, 12 KOs and lost his first professional bout.
“I am a warrior. I have to do everything perfect. And I don’t have any explanation because it could look like excuses,” Bivol said. “I just congratulate Artur and his team. He deserves it. No problem. I just have time to make another decision for my future. That’s it.”
“I don’t know. I just did my job. I felt that I could have done better. I always could be better. It’s just the opinion of the judges. Congratulations, Artur. I didn’t see the fight. He won. What can I say?”