Artur Beterbiev v Joe Smith

[Master]

UNDISPUTED KING ‘I was treated like the challenger’ – Dmitry Bivol thrived on Canelo pressure and wants winner of Smith vs Beterbiev

DMITRY BIVOL is out to prove his stunning victory over Saul Alvarez was no fluke.

The Russian star, 31, retained his WBA light-heavyweight title after outpointing Canelo in an absorbing scrap earlier this month.

Bivol went into the fight as the rank outsider, despite Alvarez stepping up in weight and the Russian proudly unbeaten.

And he put on a show in front of a stunned crowd in Las Vegas as he out-jabbed and out-moved the Mexican superstar.

With a rematch on the table - albeit after Canelo's trilogy showdown with Gennady Golovkin - Bivol is keen to show he is king at 175lbs.

He told SunSport: "I took this fight to be able to show my skills to a bigger audience and fanbase.

"I know that in order to get the respect, you have to win the fight you are not supposed to win.

"I was very motivated by the fact that in this fight I was treated like the challenger and the odds were against me.

"I believed in myself from the beginning and worked very hard to get to this fight and this victory.

"Canelo is a strong and aggressive boxer with a lot of experience."

The rematch is yet to be set in stone, but Bivol is looking to the future and wants to unify the light-heavyweight division.

And he's prepared to fight the winner of Joe Smith and Artur Beterbiev, who go to war on June 18.

Bivol continued: "[Canelo] probably didn’t have to, but he gave me the opportunity and the chance to fight him [again].

"I would of course pay the same respect to him and give him the rematch if his team will take the rematch.

"The terms of the deal have to be fair as I had to agree to his terms in order to get the fight in the first time around. It will be another fight.

"My goal has always been to become undisputed champion in my division.

"If this is something that will work out and can happen, I would like to fight the winner of Joe Smith vs Artur Beterbiev.

"[It would be] another test for myself and to prove to myself that I am the best in my division and an undisputed champion of the world."

Canelo is due to face GGG in their trilogy showdown on on September 17.

But for Bivol, he's taking some well-earned time away from the ring to recharge - and has ruled out a crossover to the MMA.

The WBC champ continued: "I have just discussed that I would like to get some rest and spend some time with my family, maybe take a vacation.

"Soon we will meet and start talking more business when the time comes.

"I don’t think I have the experience or the skills to fight in MMA as I am a boxer.

I respect Dana White and what the UFC has been able to do for the sport of MMA – it’s a very big achievement."

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/18695...lo-undisputed/

[Primo Carnera]

three belt unification. artur should knock joe out. winner sweetens his chances for a shot at canelo

A shot at Canelo for which title?

[TIC]

three belt unification. artur should knock joe out. winner sweetens his chances for a shot at canelo

A shot at Canelo for which title?

no title needed. canelo is still a golden ticket

[Ron Swanson]

three belt unification. artur should knock joe out. winner sweetens his chances for a shot at canelo

A shot at Canelo for which title?

no title needed. canelo is still a golden ticket

Ahh, pushing the Canelo is best angle looks silly now having been so thoroughly defeated on multiple occasions. So switch it to he is the biggest star. Doesn’t matter if he loses, he’s more popular

[TIC]

three belt unification. artur should knock joe out. winner sweetens his chances for a shot at canelo

A shot at Canelo for which title?

no title needed. canelo is still a golden ticket

Ahh, pushing the Canelo is best angle looks silly now having been so thoroughly defeated on multiple occasions. So switch it to he is the biggest star. Doesn’t matter if he loses, he’s more popular

where did i push canelo is the best angle in this discussion with primo carnera azov ron? never said anything about biggest star either. canelo is still a golden ticket. most fighters who challenge themselves lose. nothing wrong with that. canelo is more popular than artur or joe

[TIC]

[TIC]

[Master]

Three light-heavyweight world titles will be up for grabs this Saturday, as Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr meet in a main-event contest in New York City.

Unbeaten Artur Beterbiev has 17 knockouts from 17 wins, and the Russian will defend his WBC and IBF belts here.

Smith Jr, meanwhile, enters the Madison Square Garden Theater as WBO champion and with a professional record of 28-3 (22 KOs).

The American, 32, must do what no other fighter has done and hand Beterbiev the first loss of the Russian’s pro career this weekend if he is to retain his gold and collect the 37-year-old’s titles.

Last time out, Beterbiev stopped Marcus Browne in December for a ninth-round victory, while Smith Jr also won in Round 9 of his most recent fight, beating Steve Geffrard in January.

The fight will take place on Saturday 18 June at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City.

The main card will begin at 2am BST (6pm PT, 8pm CT, 9pm ET) on Sunday 19 June, with ring walks for the main event set for approximately 4am BST (8pm PT, 10pm CT, 11pm ET).

In the UK, Sky Sports will air the fight live. It will also be available to stream live on the broadcaster’s Sky Go app.

In the US, ESPN+ will stream the bout live.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...48225f40f31665

[TitoFan]

Looking forward to this one.

[TIC]

Looking forward to this one.

both guys seem very good for the sport

[Spicoli]

Getting pumped for this one. Wonder if Beterbiev will make it a point to start faster. Smith looked ragged and slow last out and much of what Vlasov showed in imo a coin toss decision, Beterbiev has ten times over. But I can see him getting in trouble and pushed around a bit for the first few rounds. Levels should separate gradually but Smith very dangerous start to finish. Would love Bivol v winner in full unification but looks like Zurdo may be up for Bivol next.

By the looks of it card is only set for one and a half hours so hopefully the espn crew doesn't talk fans to death for an hour again before a fight happens.

[TIC]

artur can be hit & joe's power will be a risk all fight, i just don't see this as being very competitive

[TIC]

shout out to shu shu on the undrcard

robeisy ramirez v abraham nova could be good

[Master]

Artur Beterbiev has revealed he hasn’t watched a single one of Anthony Yarde‘s fights.

The WBC and IBF unified champion challenges Joe Smith Jr for the WBO light heavyweight world title on Saturday night in New York – with Yarde expected to face the winner later this year.

But Beterbiev doesn’t know that much about Yarde as he admits that he’s not really a big fan of the sport.

“I’m not a fan of boxing,” Beterbiev told The Ring Magazine.

The unified light heavyweight champion continued: “I don’t follow the different boxers even before I became a world champion, I didn’t follow boxers and being honest I never watched Yarde.

“I haven’t watched his fights and I don’t know him well, but when we have contact or a fight with Yarde we will watch him and check everything.”

Beterbiev, who currently resides in his adopted hometown of Montreal, is boxing‘s only champion with a 100 per cent knockout ratio.

He enters the fight with an incredible record of 17-0, all by way of knockout.

Beterbiev has beaten the likes of Marcus Browne, Adam Deines, Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Callum Johnson.

But Smith Jr, who only has three losses on his record, will be hoping to cause an upset.

And he admits he is excited by the challenge that lies ahead.

“Every fight for me is exciting,” Beterbiev added.

“Every fight in this position that I have is a challenge and I have to be prepared 100 per cent for every fight.

“Joe Smith is good. He has good experience in the professionals and he’s had good fights against good opponents but we will see on January 19.”

It comes after Yarde’s promoter Frank Warren confirmed that he is next in line to fight the winner of Beterbiev’s unified light heavyweight showdown with Smith Jr.

Warren told iFL TV: “We’ve been talking to Top Rank and that’s where we’d like to get to.

“I spoke to Bob Arum about it. We want to do that fight. We’ve booked the date, we have talked about it.

” We’ve booked the date the 22nd of October we want to get that fight on.

“The winner has to fight Anthony Yarde. That has to happen. The WBO has ordered it.

“We made it very clear from the beginning as far as Anthony is concerned. He got himself, by winning that fight, into the number one mandatory position. He’s in that position.

“He’s flying out to the Joe Smith-Beterbiev fight. He’ll be there for that. And the winner will fight him in October.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...c51df8bfd4fb81

[Master]

Joe Smith Jr has the chance to unify a major part of the light-heavyweight division this Saturday when he takes on the formidable Artur Beterbiev.

The Russian holds the IBF and WBC light-heavyweight titles while Smith is bringing his WBO title to the dance in New York.

Smith, 32, is 28-3 in his professional career, but he did lose to another Russian in a world title fight back in 2019 when he fell to Dmitry Bivol via decision.

Bivol holds the other belt at 175lbs and Smith’s showdown with Beterbiev could go a long way to setting up a fight to unify the division in the near future.

talkSPORT spoke to the American ahead of his date with destiny on Saturday, June 18.

“Any fight has the potential to go the distance, and I believe this fight definitely has the potential to go the distance, but it could also be a quick knockout, we’re both big punchers, but we’re both also very tough guys.”

“I see my hand going up at the end of the night, celebrating with my three belts.”

Fight with Bivol preferred option next?
“One hundred percent, if we can make that fight happen in the near future, I would love to do it.”

Can you beat Bivol?
“I believe I’ve learned a lot in my last few fights and I have a lot more experience now and I believe I’m ready for that opportunity, I’ve just got to get past this guy first.”

What did you think of Bivol vs Canelo?
“I thought the win over Canelo was impressive and he looked good. I thought Bivol would get the job done and I put money on him to win.

“I won a couple hundred bucks, I didn’t bet crazy, my wife yelled at me for betting on it and said he wasn’t going to get a decision over Canelo, but I was allowed to put a few hundred on it.”

Buatsi and Yarde as future opponents?
“Yeah, they’re great fighters and if the opportunity presents itself and its the right one and the right choice to make at the time, then yeah.”

How would a fight with WBO mandatory Yarde go?

“I don’t know, he hasn’t really been in there with any top competition, so right now it would be an easy fight for me.”

What was winning world title like?
“It was amazing, it what I’ve been working towards my whole life, so achieving it was huge.”

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/1...-boxing-bivol/