Popular American martial arts columnist, former coach and boxing commentator Teddy Atlas on the air of the latest episode of The FIGHT with Teddy Atlas podcast
expressed their expectations of a possible fight between IBF / WBC / WBO light heavyweight title holder (up to 79.4 kg) Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) and WBA Super champion Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs).
The American master of pictorial comparisons told how a puncher with a Canadian passport could defeat a boxing master from the Russian Federation.
“First of all, it will be a fight that I want to see. It is an interesting, intriguing fight. I would say Beterbiev, like Bivol, does not know the bitterness of defeat. They are both invincible. The difference is that Beterbiev knocks everyone out. If he does not knock out you are clean, then he breaks you. His pressure, his mental state, his ability to impose his physics and will on you, just, as I always say, pressure breaks pipes. Beterbiev is looking at how to break people with this pressure. And while he does it “Every time I stepped into the ring. Bivol is the only fighter who, in my opinion, can beat Beterbiev.”
- Bivol after Ramirez answered if he would beat Beterbiev
“Beterbiev is not getting any younger. Whatever he wants to do, he needs to do it soon because he’s been in a lot of amateur fights and a lot of pro and hard fights. He’s been on the floor, he’s not getting any younger. Sooner or later, this rock will begin to crumble little by little. He’s a rock, but if you hit that rock long enough, you push, you push, a piece will break off. I don’t know how far it is from that day, but everyone who fights like that eventually comes to this day.”
“Right now, I would call Bivol a slight favourite. If I had to bet on a fight, I would bet on Bivol. He has the skill set to beat Beterbiev. Other fighters have them too, but more importantly, he has the mental approach, the mental focus to do it when the fire appears. He can put on an asbestos suit when a fire appears. It won’t fall apart in the fire. I believe Bivol has already shown me in the past. I believe Bivol has it. He has the psychological resilience, the mental toughness to keep doing what he needs to do when the fire comes, when that moment comes. And this moment comes with Beterbiev. When he keeps pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing – and I think where he got to everyone he met, he won’t get to Bivol. That’s why I want to see this fight. I want to see if he can. I’ll bet he can’t.”
- Bivol is a big Golovkin, but it’s not a fact that Beterbiev is tough for him – a coach
“But in the end, with all of Bivol’s physical skills, with all of the ability blocks and bricks, the thing that really makes him a solid building is the cement that holds all those blocks together. That cement is his psychology. I think it’s mental toughness.” “He’s not a talker, nothing. Usually the toughest guys. He’s the one who proves it, he’s a proud champion. And I believe that this mental toughness will allow him to beat this Beterbiev monster.”
“And look, Beterbiev is a lot better than Ramirez. First of all, a much better puncher. Those commentators wanted to make him out to be a big puncher. I didn’t see that, but okay anyway. Beterbiev is a really good puncher. Puncher, with dynamite in each hand. I laughed a little during the broadcast when the commentators said that Ramirez does not work on the body.But maybe it’s because he couldn’t get to the body?Maybe it’s because he ran into counters that knocked him down every time him when he was trying to get close to bodywork? Maybe that’s why?”
- Boxer of the year. Bivol defeated Ramirez — vRING report
“Now it would be a big deal for Beterbiev to try to use his hard jab to sort of control Bivol from a distance. He needs to use that hammer jab. He doesn’t throw as many jabs as Bivol, but they are hard. Just like George Foreman was hard. He needs to use that precise jab hammer to stabilize Bivol’s box in the distance, and then he needs to find a way to get to the hull, get the air out and deflate the tires that Bivol does this excellent job of getting in and out of. And Beterbiev was very good at bodywork. For me, those are the things he needs to implement to beat Bivol. I really want to see that fight.”
Meanwhile, it became known that Beterbiev faces a second mandatory defense in a row.