In a clash of power and skill, it was the former that triumphed and helped Artur Beterbiev reign supreme at 175, as he handed Dmitry Bivol his first career defeat and snatched his belts for himself. The fight ended the debate of the undisputed king at the light heavyweight and gave fans a fight worth remembering for ages. It all went down when they stood across from each other in the center of the boxing ring.

Artur Beterbiev came into the fight as the unified champion, holding the IBF, WBC, and WBO belts. And after the Russian Canadian emerged victorious in a flurry of punches and exchanges as the fight went the distance, the judges scored it 114-114, 115-113, 116-112 in his favor. With the WBA belt that was Dmitry Bivol’s until the final bell rang on Saturday, Beterbiev became the undisputed light heavyweight champion. Interestingly, it also ended his knockout streak, which lasted for 20 fights.

While the fight may have ended the debate for the undisputed king in the light heavyweight division, it wasn’t without controversy. Why? Because many felt the judges should’ve ruled in Dmitry Bivol’s favor. In fact, most people in the boxing community placed their bets on the 33-year-old winning, including fellow professionals. Oleksandr Usyk was one of them. When asked for his prediction, the former undisputed heavyweight champion said, “I guess Bivol. He has good legs, good movement. I watched the fight with Canelo Alvarez. Good boxing, defending, counter-punch and combos.”

In that fight against Alvarez in May 2022, Dmitry Bivol won by unanimous decision. And boxers like Shawn Porter believed that that would be the case against Beterbiev, too, basing their analysis on how the fight was playing out on October 12. Seeing as Porter wasn’t the only one who thought so, let’s break it down.

Beterbiev started the fight with forward pressure and layered his attacks behind his jabs. Meanwhile, Bivol resorted to small movements and was on the lookout for openings. He also landed one-two combinations. But Beterbiev came on the top of initial exchanges. However, that didn’t work for him, as Bivol’s ring generalship and his calmness allowed him to negate Beterbiev’s power.

In addition, Beterbiev landed his straight rights, and those remained a one-two combination, whereas Bivol relied on combinations. However, things changed in the fourth round, as Beterbiev’s relentless pressure started to overwhelm Bivol, and body shots puzzled him. The fight remained closely contested and went the distance, where Beterbiev clinched it. But it came down to the championship rounds, as was evident from the stats.

As reported by CompuBox’s Ben Chan, “Bivol connected on 50% of his power punches, while Beterbiev only landed 29% of his. Bivol landed 33 power punches over the first 6 rounds while Beterbiev landed 23.” However, in the last 6 rounds, the Russian-Canadian landed 67 power punches, 29 of those coming in Rounds 11 and 12. As for Bivol, he landed 51, only 19 of which were in the last 2 rounds.

It was more than likely Beterbiev’s dominance in the final few rounds that pushed him over the edge, leading two judges to score in his favor. Even so, many weren’t pleased with the outcome and expressed their outrage. Unsurprisingly, leading the charge was Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, co-owner of Matchroom Boxing.

Pros had a field day over the judges’ scorecard for Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol

Talking on DAZN, Eddie Hearn couldn’t help but discuss the 116-112 score in favor of Artur Beterbiev. He said, “In one of the biggest fights of our generation, the most important fight of Dmitry Bivol’s life, you give him four rounds?” If we break down the score, knowing that the boxer who wins the round gets a 10 and the loser gets a 9, Beterbiev won 8 rounds of the 12. And then, he brought up an instance from the fight.

“It’s disgusting. You heard Beterbiev’s corner in the 10th round: They told him, ‘You have to knock him out to win this fight.'” This meant that even the 39-year-old’s team knew he didn’t have a chance of winning solely based on the judges’ scores. But ultimately, he did. Hearn’s reaction? “I’m absolutely baffled and disgusted.” As opposed to the third judge’s score – according to which Beterbiev won 8 rounds – Shawn Poter believed it to be the other way around.

And that was after just 10 rounds. When the now-undisputed champion’s team was telling him to knock Bivol out, Porter tweeted, “Call me crazy, but I got it 8-2 Bivol.” It seems he also gave the rounds to Bivol based on his efficient blows and combinations. Joining others in their disbelief, Ryan Garcia followed the fight closely and had Bivol winning on his scorecards. He wrote, “Wow, robbery if you ask me.”

Bivol led the initial rounds, but as for Beterbiev, he picked up steam later. There were a couple of close rounds, which could have gone either way, and they went to Beterbiev, it seems. Tony Bellew shared similar thoughts, as he had Bivol leading. He declared, “I’ve got Bivol winning that! The last round was so close again but I just feel Bivol landed the better shots all night long.. Great combinations, Great fight. Beterbiev was outstanding! Nearly 40 years old and he’s finishing fights as strong as he did when he was 20! 👏 well done to both warriors #BeterbievBivol #RiyadhSeason.”

Despite nearing 40, Beterbiev maintained high, forward pressure throughout the fight, which helped him edge out Bivol in close rounds. It seemed that the judges preferred his aggression. Shakur Stevenson took a jibe at the scorecards, which were lopsided in Beterbiev’s favor. He penned, “115-113, 116-112 😂😂.” Many had Bivol up on their cards, including Chris Mannix, who gave the fight to Bivol. But that’s now how the judges saw it.

Nico Ali Walsh lauded Beterbiev for his performance. He commented, “BETERBIEV!!!👑👑” Beterbiev is now the first undisputed champion in the four-belt era at 175, and he will look to hold onto this crown longer. However, Claressa Shields came closest to the judges’ scorecard, as she had Beterbiev narrowly winning the fight. She announced, “Hmm 🤔 this fight didn’t live up to the hype to me: 114-114, 113-114, 115, 112. ………. Beterbiev!!!!” Beterbiev swept the championship rounds and went for the kill after advice from his corner in the 10th round.

Lastly, Terence Crawford asked for the fans’ opinion, as he labeled the fight as “good.” He invited, “That was a good fight, but who did yall have winning?” Very few pros had Beterbiev winning in their pre-fight or post-fight prediction, but he proved them wrong. It remains to be seen whether the two boxers will run it back. But from their comments, it looks like they’re interested.

“If His Excellency (Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority) wants to, we going to do,’’ Beterbiev said. As for Bivol, he said, “Why not, of course. If I have a chance to, yes, this is my dream to be undisputed [champion].” What do you make of this fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol? Let us know in the comments below.