In a very good and surprisingly tactical fight, Artur Beterviev becomes the undisputed light heavyweight champion as he wins a majority decision over Dmitry Bivol. It was a good chess match between two super skilled fighters who were two of the top 7 fighters in the world going in, both undefeated. He becomes the 1st legitimate undisputed light heavyweight champion since Michael Spinks in the 80s.

The fight started out with Bivol controlling the early rounds with his left jab, winning the first 3 rounds. From the 4th round on, Beterviev began stepping up the pressure and was able to start to close the distance and started being aggressive. The pressure slowly appeared to get to Bivol at times as the fight continued, but Bivol would stand his ground at times. There were stretches where the rounds were tough to score, given what you liked.

If you could point to the one moment where Beterbiev won the fight, it was more than likely round 11 when he had Bivol stunned early and turned up the aggression and had Bivol in retreat. It was likely Bivol took the round off, but it didn’t help that Beterbiev began being aggressive and Bivol felt his punch.

There were many close rounds in this fight as they were tough to score in stretches.  I scored it 116-112 for Bivol, but at least 3-4 rounds of this fight were ones that could have gone either way. It was a very good fight between two of the top 7 fighters in the world going in. Someone’s 0 had to go, and it was Bivol’s. Overall, very good chess match where both fighters showed great skill.

Only solution right now: run it back!

Photo Credit; Boxing News