Artur Beterbiev’s Radical Transformation: Why His New Southpaw Stance Could Be the Key to Beating Dmitry Bivol

A training clip of Artur Beterbiev was uploaded today, revealing a transformed fighter, punching from a southpaw stance on a heavy bag, as he prepares for revenge after his first career loss to Dmitry Bivol. The trilogy fight is expected to happen next between Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) and the IBF, WBA, and WBO light heavyweight champion Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs).

New Skills for Beterbiev-Bivol III

Mentally, Beterbiev appears to have been motivated by his loss and wants to even the score with Bivol. Artur has learned, retooled, and will return with a whole new set of skills. This will be a different version of Beterbiev than the one Bivol fought in the first two fights.

Beterbiev’s Southpaw Stance Revealed

The southpaw stance that Beterbiev used in the fight showed that he’s got a new bag of tricks that he’s going to be employing against Bivol to get his revenge later this year.

Beterbiev wants to ensure he takes the judges out of play for their rubber match, as there was controversy involved in his two fights with Bivol. Some boxing fans, including Bivol’s promoter, believed he deserved to win the first fight last October.

Bivol had run the entire second half of the contest, showing no interest in fighting. In the rematch last February, Beterbiev appeared to win six of the twelve rounds in what should have been a draw, but the judges in Riyadh gave it to Bivol.

Some people believe that Bivol was given the decision to make up for the controversy of the first fight to quiet the grumbling fans and his promoter. However, Bivol’s victory created new controversy because it appeared to be a gift decision.

Bivol’s Boring Fight Style

Many fans want to see Bivol move on and face WBC champion David Benavidez for the undisputed championship. They feel that Beterbiev, 40, is old and slow, and they don’t want to see Bivol use his speed advantage to box his way to another boring decision.

Both fights were very dull due to Bivol’s hit-and-run style. Beterbiev lacked the foot speed to catch up to Bivol when he was running around the ring. There were extended stretches in every round where there was no action at all. Bivol would throw and then run away from the slow-footed Beterbiev.

It would be much harder for Bivol to use that style against ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez because he’s faster at cutting off the ring. He would force Bivol to fight, which he’s not good at against big punchers.