Eddie Hearn remains confident in Dmitry Bivol’s ability to defeat Artur Beterbiev, even after the British promoter watched what he called “a freak of nature” dismantle another fighter his company represents Saturday night.
For Bivol to beat Beterbiev, however, Hearn understands that the WBA light heavyweight champion won’t be able to simply outbox the rugged Russian knockout artist. Bivol will need to do some damage of his own to slow down the aggressive, strong Beterbiev and give himself a better opportunity to win their 12-round, 175-pound title unification fight.
Hearn is certain Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) and Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) will finally fight next. In fact, Hearn revealed during an interview with Boxing News following Beterbiev’s seventh-round technical knockout of Callum Smith on Saturday night in Quebec City, Canada that Bivol’s side of a deal for the Beterbiev bout has already been finalized with Turki Alalshikh.
The General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, headed by Turki Alalshikh, is expected to fully fund the expensive Beterbiev-Bivol battle.
“I always back our guys,” Hearn said. “I truly believed Callum Smith would win tonight and I truly believe that Bivol would win. But seeing Beterbiev up close – that’s the second time I’ve seen him up close – he’s actually a lot better than he was against Callum Johnson [a fourth-round knockout win in October 2018]. I think he’s improved a lot. I know he’s getting older, and you hope that he’s slowing down, but he’s not. He’s actually, I mean, I thought that was one of his best performances.”
The Montreal-based Beterbiev, who will turn 39 on January 21, dropped Smith twice in the seventh round of a fight he led on all three scorecards through six rounds (59-55, 58-56, 58-56). Liverpool’s Smith suffered the first two knockdowns of his 11-year professional career and lost inside the distance for the first time in 31 pro bouts (29-2, 21 KOs).
Russia’s Bivol boxes better than Smith, yet Hearn emphasized that the long-reigning, 33-year-old champion must earn Beterbiev’s respect in a fight that, barring a no-contest or a draw, would crown the first fully unified light heavyweight champion of boxing’s four-belt era.
“Dmitry Bivol has tremendous movement, but you’ve gotta make a dent,” Hearn said. “It’s very difficult to outbox him over 12 rounds. He’s gonna wear you down, he’s gonna force the pressure and, like I said, the shots around the back of the head, the shots on the ears, they really hurt. And I think Dmitry can do it, but it’s the only fight for both guys now.”
Bob Arum, Beterbiev’s promoter, told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna in the ring Saturday night that his team will begin negotiations soon with Turki Alalshikh to finalize a deal for the long-awaited Beterbiev-Bivol bout. Arum indicated that their showdown should take place three months after Ramadan because Beterbiev, who owns the IBF, WBC and WBO 175-pound championships, is a practicing Muslim.
Ramadan – the Muslim month for fasting, prayer, reflection and community – is scheduled to end April 9. The Beterbiev-Bivol bout, according to Arum’s timeline, is expected to take place sometime during the summer at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“From our side, we’ve already done the deal,” Hearn said. “You know, we’ve already done the deal with [Turki Alalshikh]. And it’s over to his excellency to do the deal with Artur Beterbiev. So, that’s the fight we expect next.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.