famous American coach Andre Rozierwho participated in the preparation of a compatriot and then-current world light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr. (28-4, 22 KOs) for a unification fight with Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs), talked with a local boxing reporter.
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interview the specialist commented on the defeat of Smith from Beterbiev, and also spoke about the possible fights of Artur against the WBA Super champion Russian Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) and the absolute champion of the second middleweight (up to 76.2 kg) Mexican Canelo Alvarez (57-2 -2, 39 KOs).
— I know that you prepared Joe Smith for the fight with Beterbiev. What do you think of Beterbiev’s performance?
He was King Kong. Actually I will say this. He was Godzilla because Godzilla beat my King Kong in the movie [улыбается]. He was Godzilla. I mean he was a monster.
– Were you surprised that Joe was knocked down?
— I was a little surprised. I thought Joe would be a little more resilient because I’ve seen him do it throughout his career. It has always been difficult for him. It’s not easy to knock him down, but Beterbiev knocked him down a few times.
Joe recently said that he missed a blow to the ear and lost his balance. Can you explain to everyone how hard it is to recover when you miss a hit like this?
– When you miss such a blow or one of the blows to the back of the head, it will unbalance you. The work of the equilibrium fluid in the ear canals is disturbed. That’s why he had trouble standing. It seems to me that once Beterbiev hit him in the back of the head, which I did not like, but otherwise these blows were cruel and according to the rules.
“I thought Beterbiev was faster.” The yard coach rated Arthur
– Do you think Joe came out with the right plan for the fight? He came out super aggressive, didn’t try to box at all. Do you think this is the right plan for the fight?
– For 25-30 seconds he had the right plan for the fight. He jabbed, threw deuces. He was supposed to do this the whole fight, but he missed and started to answer. He had to fight with him, to return blow for blow. This was not the strategy he should have followed. He is taller, he is longer and he could also hit. He had to throw jab, jab, right, jab, right, left body hook, jab, right, hook, the whole fight.
– The big question now is the Beterbiev-Bivol duel. Bivol’s team and Beterbiev himself want this fight next. If it were organized, how would it go?
“Another fantastic fight. This year is going the way I wanted. We see how boxing is bearing fruit. I am a big fan of Bivol. Offhand I’ll tell you that I think Bivol will win in such a duel. He will box like a razor blade and that will give Beterbiev a lot of problems. And also Bivol is good in defense. He doesn’t miss that much, even if the punch is flying at great speed. I can see how he will control the atmosphere in the ring and use his very fine and expressive jab to control the action.
— What about the strength of Beterbiev? We saw how he boxed against Alexander Gvozdyk, who was also an amazing boxer. In the end, he just broke and stopped him. Do you think it will be the same with Bivol, or do you believe that Bivol will win this fight?
— Of course, everything is possible in the theater of drama. Yes, it can happen, but I think Bivol is such a good tactician that he knows how to control the action and he won’t let things run high. He is very, very smart and knows what he needs to do to prevent this from happening.
Coach Beterbiev on Bivol, Smith, Yard and the legendary Duran
I know you always pick Bivol against Canelo, but do you think stylistically Canelo would have fought better against Beterbiev?
– Absolutely not. If Canelo were the best defense master, I would say that it could be a little different. But Beterbiev is throwing dynamite at you. I see this fight as a long night.
Let’s say they fight. Do you think Beterbiev will stop Canelo or do you think Canelo’s chin is too strong to shake?
– That’s a really good question. I think Canelo has a world class chin. Really. But Beterbiev has world-class power. So this fight would be one rock against another rock. But since Canelo knows how to fight, then this is a different situation. I think Canelo would definitely finish the fight.
So Beterbiev won’t stop Canelo?
Beterbiev will win, but he won’t stop Canelo.
