Dmitry Bivol took revenge on Artur Beterbiev on February 22 at The Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The pair squared off for the second time, battling it out for the undisputed light heavyweight title. The contest followed their first fight last October, when Beterbiev claimed the win by majority decision.
This time around, a majority decision went in favor of Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs). The former WBA titleholder from Kyrgyzstan, who was cut over his left eye, became the new four-belt champion at 175 lbs with the scores 114-114, 116-112, and 115-113. Canada-based Artur Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) suffered his first career defeat and lost the title.
Post-fight, when asked if there would be a trilogy, Bivol said he wanted to rest but was ready to fight anybody. Beterbiev said he didn’t want the second fight but was ready to fight for a third time.
“I’m just so happy,” Bivol said. “I went through a lot during the last years.”
“To be honest, I lost, and I felt a little easier, maybe. I didn’t have too much pressure like the time before. And I just wanted to work from the first round till the end of the 12th round.”
“The difference was me. I was better. I was pushing myself more. I was more confident and lighter. And I just wanted to win so much today.”
Beterbiev said, “I don’t want to talk about the decision. It’s tough. I congratulate Bivol and his team.”
“I don’t know [what was different]. I think this fight was better than the first time.”
“Actually, I didn’t even want the second fight. It wasn’t my choice. But, no problem. We can do the third fight.”
In Beterbiev vs Bivol 2 undercard action
In the co-main event, Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) from New Zealand retained his interim WBO heavyweight title via second-round TKO against late-replacement opponent Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs) from Congo. Bakole took the fight on short notice, replacing British IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), who fell ill.
Among other Beterbiev vs Bivol 2 results, WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) from Newark, NJ retained his belt by TKO in the ninth round against short-notice challenger Josh Padley (15-1, 4 KOs) of the UK. Padley stepped in for Austin, Texas-based Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs), who was hospitalized and deemed unfit to compete.
The middleweight title bout between Dominican WBC champion Carlos Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs) and British contender Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) ended in a split draw. One judge scored it 118-110 in favor of Adames, another judge gave 115-114 to Sheeraz, while the third judge had it 114-114.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) of Dallas, TX defended his interim WBC super welterweight title against former champion Israil Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) of Uzbekistan by unanimous decision. After 12 rounds, the scores were 115-113, 115-113, and 117-111.
Germany’s Agit Kabayel (26-0, 18 KOs) landed the vacant interim WBC heavyweight belt by knockout against Zhilei Zhang (27-3-1, 22 KOs) from China. Kabayel went down in the fifth round, but he responded by dropping Zhang at 2:29 into the sixth round.
Kicking off the action, England’s former super middleweight champion Callum Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) defeated Ghanaian-born British fighter Joshua Buatsi (19-1, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision. After 12 rounds, the scores were 119-110, 115-113, and 116-112. Smith claimed the interim WBO light heavyweight strap.
Among the Beterbiev vs Bivol 2 prelims, Ziyad Almaayouf (7-0-1, 1 KO) made his home-country ring appearance, scoring a six-round points decision against Brazilian Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira (6-21, 5 KOs) at super lightweight. Additionally, local Mohammed Alakel (3-0) similarly defeated Engel Gomez (8-43-3, 4 KOs) of Nicaragua at lightweight.