Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol are two of the scariest fighters in the world. It is weird to even think that these two can be scared of something. After all, from their childhood they have been in wars and several battles of their own and they have conquered everything to get to the top of their divisions.

Ahead of the historic undisputed light heavyweight fight in Riyadh, the two boxers sat down for an interview and revealed their deepest and darkest fear to the world. Ironically, the things that they revealed made them somehow relatable to normal fans, as their fears were similar to a lot of our fears.

What scares the champions?

The video uploaded by Boxing King Media featured an interviewer asking the fighters about the things that scare them. Artur Beterbiev was the first to answer as he revealed that nothing truly scares him. “I think…No,” stated the unified light heavyweight champion with a smile on his face.

But he made sure to let us know that he is not a fan of flying in an airplane. “I don’t like really, (flying). But I do often (fly),” he added. There was a chuckle on the face of the Montreal resident as he too understood the irony of the situation. His job requires him to fly regularly to different parts of the world, and it is a part of his routine and to dislike it puts him in quite a worrisome situation.

Dmitry Bivol answered next and just like his counterpart, he also revealed that he has no phobias at all. But to everyone’s surprise, the 23-0 boxer is not a very big fan of snakes and other insects. “I don’t like snakes, of course. If I see a snake, I will not touch it,” stated the WBA champion.

The 33-year-old further revealed that he also does not like spiders. Just when he was getting relatable to the audience, he revealed that “I don’t like spiders, if they have poison. Normal spiders are okay,” with a dry smile on his face.

With the childhood that both of them have had, there is very little left to be scared of. Their resilience towards fear can directly be related to their rough childhood and challenging upbringing. The discomfort with flying and snakes is nothing compared to what they have seen in their early lives.

Artur Beterbiev & Dmitry Bivol’s childhood demons

Beterbiev is a child of war and survived the Chechen wars alongside his family before even turning 16. He had to share his home with many war refugees, some times as many as 30, and it was a struggle to get food on the table. Another tragedy struck in 2001, when his father Gasan Beterbiev, passed away in a car accident. His family kept his dream of boxing alive and the youngest Beterbiev family member did not let anyone down.

On the other hand, Bivol’s childhood was also filled with struggle and he had to fight for everything. Growing up in a small Kyrgyz town, every day was filled with brawls and gang wars and everything was resolved through fists. This violent childhood fueled Bivol’s determination towards boxing as it was the perfect way to channel his aggression. His family’s financial condition was also a problem, but none of these challenges were strong enough to sway Dmitry Bivol from his path.

A childhood filled with such horrors has made both of these boxers numb to such superficial scares. They have conquered everything that life has thrown at their way and with the struggles of childhood backing them, both of them will step into the ring on Saturday to create history.