Major confrontation in Saudi Arabia  – World Boxing Association

The undefeated Russian fighters Dmitrii Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, undoubtedly two of the top boxing stars, will star this Saturday at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, with a capacity of 26 thousand spectators, in the first-ever Light Heavyweight fight where the belts of the World Boxing Association (WBA) will be at stake, together with the World Boxing Council (WBC), the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO), the main boxing organizations in the world. 

Bivol, 33, born in Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan, in Central Asia, residing in Indio, California, has won all of his 23 professional fights, 12 of them before the final bell, since his debut at the age of 20 in November 2014 against Uruguayan Jorge Rodriguez, whom he knocked out in the sixth round. He is the current WBA light heavyweight monarch, a title he has held since November 4, 2015 when he beat Jackson Junior and has successfully defended on 15 occasions. 

For his part, the 39-year-old hard puncher Beterbiev is a native of Khasavyurt, Russia, and has been living for quite some time in Quebec, Canada. He holds the WBC, IBF and WBO belts, where he has exercised a dictatorship for the last 7 years. None of the 20 opponents he has faced has been able to reach the end of the scheduled rounds. This quality distinguishes him as the only active world champion with the uncommon 100% of his performances as winner by way of KO. 

All this leads to assume that the fight at the Kingdom Arena will be a really explosive encounter between two war tanks such as these aces of such a high magnitude, which makes any prediction about a possible outcome difficult, even when the bookmakers give a 53, 48% of option to triumph to the WBA champion, possibly by taking into consideration his greater technical ability, even though it is not left aside that with absolute certainty the permanent harassment of Beterbiev, in every second of action, could ruin the presumptions of a good part of the experts; It is worth saying that Bivol will be in serious danger all the time in the 12 scheduled rounds, as it is customary in every world championship fight. 

Such danger, in the opinion of the connoisseurs, is sustained by the threat of the powerful and lethal left hook to the liver, the most effective working tool of the champion of the other three entities, a weapon with which he has finished a good portion of his opponents. The writer has the same reservations, with an uncertain inclination to the possible victory of Bivol on the cards.

That clash against Zinad, held on the same stage on the same day of Saturday, was the last bout for Bivol, who between 2022 and this year has only fought on four occasions. Before the Libyan, he fought Lyndon Arthur, from the United Kingdom, whom he defeated on points on December 23 last year; the Mexican Gilberto Ramirez, who was undefeated in 44 performances, and defeated him by wide decision in Abu Dhabi (or Abu Dhabi), on 15-11-22 and in what has been so far his most resounding victory, he defeated the Aztec idol Saul “Canelo” Alvarez by a double 117-111 and 118-110 on July 5 two years ago. Beterbiev’s activity between 2021-24 has not been intense either. On 12/17/21 he fulminated in 9 to Marcus Browne, from New York, on June 18, 2022 he finished in 2 with the also American Joe Smith, by the way, the only common opponent for him and Bivol, who defeated by the cards the New Yorker on March 9 5 years ago. After Smith, AB anesthetized in 8 to Anthony Yarde, of the UK on January 28, 2023 and finally last January 13 massacred the Englishman Callum Smith in 7 episodes-.

We are done here. Let’s wait now for the big fight between Russians on Columbus Day, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.