Bivol Vows More Aggressive Approach in Rematch with Beterbiev

Dmitry Bivol says his rematch with undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on February 22nd will be “more open” because he’s familiar with his former conqueror. Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) doesn’t say what he means by “more open,” but for his sake, he needs to be more aggressive, stay in the pocket, hold less, and fight in the second half.

Bivol says he’s learned from defeat and will be different in the rematch. If that’s true, it’s going to be an exciting fight this time because his lack of engagement was missing in his previous encounter with Beterbiev.

The flesh was willing, but the mind was weak. Bivol has the power, speed, and skills to win, but he’s got to get past the mental block that prevented him from trading.

Bivol’s New Strategy

Bivol is working hard and training for the rematch, but he needs more mental adjustment than physical one. He must convince himself to fight more aggressively in the rematch with Beterbiev. Bivol’s punch-and-run style didn’t work last time and probably won’t work this time.

Undisputed heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) will defend against Bivol on February 22nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event will be shown live on DAZN PPV.

Bivol must change something in the rematch to have a shot at winning. His cautious approach to boxing in their first fight on October 12th will not work against Beterbiev in the rematch.

Betebriev will also take a different approach to the rematch. He will likely put pressure on Bivol from round one rather than waiting until the sixth, as he did last time.

He made the mistake of letting Bivol get the better of him in the first five rounds by not going on the attack and showing too much respect. Bivol woke Beterbiev up in the sixth round when he hit him with a four-punch combination.

That seemed to anger Beterbiev and get his competitive spirit in gear. From that point on, he was constantly attacked. For the last seven rounds, Bivol moved, clinched, and did nothing to win. It wasn’t that he had gassed out. He felt Beterbiev’s power and didn’t want to get knocked out.

Bivol’s team and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, didn’t want to accept the loss. They complained and didn’t help. Bivol had failed, and the judges made that clear. Beterbiev was attacking relentlessly, looking like a shark going after its prey, and Bivol didn’t want to get chopped. So, he moved nonstop, and the judges took note and scored it for Beterbiev.

The scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 114-114. I had it 117-111 for Beterbiev. Bivol appeared to win three rounds and was useless for the last nine rounds.

Learning From Defeat

“It’s learned about being more comfortable in the ring with this guy. In the second fight, I think it’ll be a more open fight maybe. I cannot find excuses because I’ll not prepare for the next fight,” said Dmitry Bivol to Fight Hub TV, talking about his rematch with undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in 58 days on February 22.

“Of course, he’s good. He has power. He’s not just a powerful boxer, but he’s good skills also,” said Bivol when asked if Beterbiev is as good as people say. “I think it’ll be, at a minimum, just as interesting, but I’m sure it’ll be better [the second fight].

“We know each other. We will not start from the beginning. We know some things about each other, and it’ll be more open fight. It’s possible to fight anybody in the division, but first, I want a rematch,” said Bivol when asked if he’d be interested in fighting David Benavidez.