The last time Dmitry Bivol defended his WBA light heavyweight title against an English underdog, Craig Richards surprisingly gave Bivol one of the most difficult fights of his career.
Bivol is a 25-1 favorite to defeat Manchester’s Lyndon Arthur on Saturday night, but Arthur drew some confidence from watching some of what Richards did during his shot at Bivol’s belt. Russia’s Bivol won a 12-round unanimous decision over Richards, but judges Steve Gray (115-114) and Yury Koptsev (115-113) credited Richards for legitimately testing the heavily favored, unbeaten Bivol.
DAZN’s Darren Barker asked Arthur (23-1, 16 KOs) during his “grand arrival” Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia whether he asked London’s Richards how to box Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs).
“I don’t really know Craig like that,” Arthur said. “And I’m not one to reach out and say, ‘What should I do?’ But I’ve watched the fight. I watched the fight a couple of weeks ago and I see a few things in there I’m hoping I’ll be able to exploit on fight night.”
Arthur upset domestic rival Anthony Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) by split decision the last time he was a significant underdog. That career-changing, 12-round win in December 2020 at Church House in London is among the reasons Arthur hasn’t paid much mind to detractors that don’t think he has any chance of beating Bivol on the Anthony Joshua-Otto Wallin undercard at Kingdom Arena.
“It is what it is,” said Arthur, who was knocked out by Yarde in the fourth round of their rematch in December 2021. “People are gonna have their opinion. Opinions are like assh-les, so, you know, look, Saturday’s a few days away, and we’ll see what happens.”
The 32-year-old Arthur accepted this title shot – against one of the best boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport – on less than six weeks’ notice once negotiations ceased between Bivol’s handlers and representatives for Richard Rivera (25-1, 19 KOs).
“Look, it is what it is,” said Arthur, who owns the IBO light heavyweight crown. “If someone comes up to you in the street and says, ‘Let’s fight,’ you don’t get 10 weeks. And, you know, that’s how I kinda looked at it. F— it. We’re here now. Let’s just do it. And Bivol, I was a fan of him, I’m a fan of him still, and I’ll be a fan of him after. He was one of the best pound-for-pound fighters. Why should I say no to that? Why should I not challenge that and see where I’m at? That’s what we’re in boxing for, so let’s do it.”
Bivol, 33, will end a 13-month layoff when he faces Arthur. The Kyrgyzstan native hasn’t boxed since November 2022, when he convincingly beat Mexican southpaw Gilberto Ramirez (45-1, 30 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
The eight-fight pay-per-view card on which Bivol will square off against Arthur is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. GMT in the United Kingdom (£19.99) and 11 a.m. ET in the United States ($39.99).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.