Beterbiev-Bivol 2 Poster Revealed: ‘Last Crescendo’

Turkish Al-Sheikh revealed his new ‘The Last Crescendo’ fight poster today on X for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch on February 22nd in Riyadh.

Poster Revealed

It is an idolized picture of both fighters, looking like bodybuilders in cartoon form, on the attack. Of the two, the image matches Beterbiev’s physique more. Bivol looks nothing like the picture.

Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) will defend his four belts against former WBA champion Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) after winning the first fight by a 12-round majority decision in Riyadh. There was grumbling from Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, and pro-Bivol fans over their fighter losing. So, here we are getting a rematch.

Hopefully, the words ‘The Last Crescendo’ mean something. Bivol can’t keep getting endless rematches. If he loses this time, he should go to the back of the line instead of being given a third try against Beterbiev.

At some point, you take the loss and accept it. Neutral fans who don’t have a dog in this race want to see the winner of the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell fight get a shot at Beterbiev rather than having to sit and wait for endless rematches.

“I feel I have enough power to stop any boxer in my weight division,” said Dmitry Bivol to talkSport Boxing when asked if he has enough power to knock out Artur Beterbiev. “It’s about to deliver this punching power.”

“I disagree with Dmitry Bivol. I don’t think he has the power to keep Beterbiev off,” said Ade Oladipo. “He landed a couple of big shots, and Beterbiev walked back, but most of the time, walked through those shots.

“I would say this about Dmitry Bivol. He does fight on his toes a lot, and he rarely sits down on his shots. He’s always on the move. I would like to see him sit down. If he sits down, he’s in the pocket. If you’re in the pocket with Beterbiev, [you’re in trouble.”

The problem was that Bivol couldn’t stay in the pocket and retreated all around the ring, trying not to get knocked out by Beterbiev. This fight failed to live up to the billing due to Bivol’s reluctance to stand and fight. Bivol says he wants “more moments” in the rematch, but I don’t have much faith in him doing that. He fought the same way against Lyndon Arthur after he got clipped.

“You can’t sit down with Beterbiev. That’s the big problem for him,” said Spencer Oliver. “Beterbiev is far too strong. He will control the space. He will take the space away from Bivol, and that’s his main asset. What he is saying is when he creates that space, ‘I need to let my hands go more and try to nick those rounds.”