Beterbiev vs Bivol June 1st in Saudi ESPN+

[Blastbeat]

I agree. Bivol struggled to hurt Lyndon Arthur. He finally managed to drop him with a body shot but couldn't finish even though he tried to end it. I think the size & strength difference will really show on fight night. Bivol isn't big enough or durable enough to take the type of punishment that's about to come his way. I've got Artur by KO late (somewhere between rounds 9-11).

i saw Bivol fight Arthur and it looked like Bivol was really going for a KO in the first 2 rounds. he was throwing with mean intent and i saw Arthur bring his elbows down a few times due to body shots.
i guess Bivol's cornermen must have told him to calm down because from round 3 up until round 11 he stopped throwing heat and just settled into his groove. if he'd dialed up the pressure from round 2 he might have gotten Arthur out of there by the midpoint. but he didnt.
he CANNOT afford to do that vs Beterbiev.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

i saw Bivol fight Arthur and it looked like Bivol was really going for a KO in the first 2 rounds. he was throwing with mean intent and i saw Arthur bring his elbows down a few times due to body shots.
i guess Bivol's cornermen must have told him to calm down because from round 3 up until round 11 he stopped throwing heat and just settled into his groove. if he'd dialed up the pressure from round 2 he might have gotten Arthur out of there by the midpoint. but he didnt.
he CANNOT afford to do that vs Beterbiev.

I remember him starting out throwing with intent and then going into cruise control as you said. Later though he did pick it up and try to finish (starting with a body shot knockdown of Lyndon). He was unable to get him out of there. It's not like Lyndon is that durable, either. Yarde KO'd him in 4 rounds in their rematch. Bivol used to be able to stop guys but he turned into a safety first boxer years ago. That's so ingrained into him now that it's not going to change.

 

[moosaev]

Will matter how " old " they now are.
Bivol doesn't provide even half of power prime Gvozyk etc might provide. While he might provide damn a lot of micro movements in long rows and Bet is old.
From other point Bet is crazy game opponent... his approach to fight isn't head hunt. It is to wear down opponent to make him slower and then achieve stoppage and doesn't matter will this happen after 1 or 10 punches...

I hear mixed reviews about Bivol vs Gvozdyk in terms of their power. Trainers who’ve worked with Gvozdyk say he’s one of the hardest hitters they’ve seen. On the other hand, David Benavidez has sparred both Bivol and Gvozdyk, believe it or not he says Gvozdyk can’t punch and Bivol hits harder. I tend to look at the stats, Gvozdyk had a much higher KO ratio and he did almost kill Adonis Stevenson. I tend to think Gvozdyk hits harder, and he also sits on his punches more.

 

[moosaev]

I remember him starting out throwing with intent and then going into cruise control as you said. Later though he did pick it up and try to finish (starting with a body shot knockdown of Lyndon). He was unable to get him out of there. It's not like Lyndon is that durable, either. Yarde KO'd him in 4 rounds in their rematch. Bivol used to be able to stop guys but he turned into a safety first boxer years ago. That's so ingrained into him now that it's not going to change.

It’s not that he became safety first, he just started fighting better opps. I remember one Irish guy Bivol fought in 2015 or so, the guy folded after a love tap. Bivol’s KO % is only 50% and even that is suspect when you consider the level of competition against the people he KO’d. Compare that to Inoue or Beterbiev, KOing their toughest opponents. That’s the diff between genuine power and not much power.

 

[SandisLL]

I hear mixed reviews about Bivol vs Gvozdyk in terms of their power. Trainers who’ve worked with Gvozdyk say he’s one of the hardest hitters they’ve seen. On the other hand, David Benavidez has sparred both Bivol and Gvozdyk, believe it or not he says Gvozdyk can’t punch and Bivol hits harder. I tend to look at the stats, Gvozdyk had a much higher KO ratio and he did almost kill Adonis Stevenson. I tend to think Gvozdyk hits harder, and he also sits on his punches more.

Prime Gvozdyk had more power [ effect ] than prime Kovalev in ideal shape.....when 0 vodka used.
Bet had slowed him down and then finished. He isn't head hunter in general. Mainly work to slow down opponent and then slowly finish and Beter Beast does have good timing and is normal body puncher too.
While now Bet is over the hill and post rehab uncle. Still very dangerous especially cos his tactique to wear opponent down slowly. It is hell if compare with guy who is lurking for 1 shot KO.
Bet had a lot of fights with punchers and movers in ams....even vs physical prime Usyk....
Gvozdyk was really good ....shit happens...

 

[borntoloseNOT]

Prime Gvozdyk had more power [ effect ] than prime Kovalev in ideal shape.....when 0 vodka used.
Bet had slowed him down and then finished. He isn't head hunter in general. Mainly work to slow down opponent and then slowly finish and Beter Beast does have good timing and is normal body puncher too.
While now Bet is over the hill and post rehab uncle. Still very dangerous especially cos his tactique to wear opponent down slowly. It is hell if compare with guy who is lurking for 1 shot KO.
Bet had a lot of fights with punchers and movers in ams....even vs physical prime Usyk....
Gvozdyk was really good ....shit happens...

@SandisLL I can’t remember last time I saw you post!

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

I've said this exact thing many times to the point i've just stopped. I'm not saying Bivol will win, in fact he might get destroyed, but the fact that so many people are basically saying it's a guarantee that Bivol gets creamed is tad confusing to me.

It's a true 50/50 pick'em fight according to the bookies. Personally though I see it more like 70/30 Beterbiev. Bivol certainly can win if he can box perfectly, or near perfectly, for 36 minutes. I just think that's a big ask.

 

[randomg1t]

I'm kind of surprised how many are just writing Bivol off.

i'm sitting here thinking i must be losing my mind, how is everyone so confident he gets beaten?

i'm actually leaning towards him the closer we get to the fight. he's the younger, faster, slicker fighter. a lot of people don't seem to realize he's one of the best defensive fighters in the game right now.

 

[Icanseeu]

It seems that the Wilder vs Zhang fight is in fact happening. Only thing is Zhang is a -185 favorite so I'm not getting much if I was to place a bet.

 

[moosaev]

I'm kind of surprised how many are just writing Bivol off.

Wilder/Zhang..... I like Wilder. I never thought he was more than he was. Big punchers always tend to flop at the elite level it seems, but even worse for Wilder is that he just looked completely shot against Parker. It wasn't just that he got outboxed, he couldn't seem to get into any rhythm at all. If a guy reliant on power can't let his hands go, he can't win.

On sherdog the fans are leaning Beterbiev, on social media platforms like X it seems that majority are leaning Bivol. It's a true 50/50 but i think it's a stretch to say many people are writing Bivol off.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

i'm sitting here thinking i must be losing my mind, how is everyone so confident he gets beaten?

i'm actually leaning towards him the closer we get to the fight. he's the younger, faster, slicker fighter. a lot of people don't seem to realize he's one of the best defensive fighters in the game right now.

I realize that he's one of the best defensive fighters in the game. Statistically his opponents' total connect percentage is the lowest. That's impressive. However, Artur will still land on him during the fight and obviously he has fight changing power. Like Rahman, the former heavyweight champ said, unless Bivol can swim without getting wet then he's going to lose.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

So, they've sparred in the past.

Here's Beterbiev's assistant trainer confirming it.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Hmm…

[Timestamped]

 

[Nova44]

Hmm…

[Timestamped]

No comment your honour.

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Yes people treating that like a good fight for Zhang but looking at the Parker fight all Wilder needs to do to win is not get knocked out. And unlike Parker Wilder can get KDs and 10-8s even if Zhang is durable enough to survive.

Zhang needs to one shot Wilder to win(which to this point no one has ever done). All other roads lead to Wilders victory.

This is all about who lands big first. Parker has one of the sturdiest chins in the division and only just survived. If zhang catches wilder as clean as he did Parker, the fight will be over. Wilder’s not particularly durable as we saw in the Fury fights

On paper, this should be a decent match up for wilder because he feasts on big guys with slow feet. However, zhang is levels above breazealle and Helanius skill wise, and hits far harder than anyone wilders fought. He’s also a southpaw and probably has a longer reach than wilder. Due to these 2 factors he’ll also get a longer time to react to that right hand.


If this fight goes late then I’d pick wilder but I’d heavily favour zhang knocking wilder out pretty early

 

[Jonny Ninja]

i'm sitting here thinking i must be losing my mind, how is everyone so confident he gets beaten?

i'm actually leaning towards him the closer we get to the fight. he's the younger, faster, slicker fighter. a lot of people don't seem to realize he's one of the best defensive fighters in the game right now.

im picking bivol for the exact reasons you state. I think age is a huge factor in this fight as well. 1 guys in his prime, the other just past it. Beterbievs had physically harder fights as well. I think bivol wins fairly clearly though I not brave enough to put money on a fight when I’m backing against beterbiev

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

im picking bivol for the exact reasons you state. I think age is a huge factor in this fight as well. 1 guys in his prime, the other just past it. Beterbievs had physically harder fights as well. I think bivol wins fairly clearly though I not brave enough to put money on a fight when I’m backing against beterbiev

You are right about that. Artur has definitely had tougher fights. He always pushes for the finish though so that's part of it. His age could potentially be a factor as well but he certainly didn't look like he was slipping at all last time out. That was actually one of his best performances. The bookies have this contest dead even. Even the poll in this thread has narrowed to 55/45. If this fight was 8 rounds or less I'd be picking Bivol.

 

[borntoloseNOT]

Hmm…

[Timestamped]

wonder what him and his team got cooking.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

wonder what him and his team got cooking.

Not sure. But he knows something that he's going to use against Bivol. That's all we know.

 

[moosaev]

im picking bivol for the exact reasons you state. I think age is a huge factor in this fight as well. 1 guys in his prime, the other just past it. Beterbievs had physically harder fights as well. I think bivol wins fairly clearly though I not brave enough to put money on a fight when I’m backing against beterbiev

What evidence is there that Beterbiev is past his prime? This shouldn't just be assumed due to his chronological age, every fighter is different.