WBA light-heavyweight champion, Dmitry Bivol, has pointed out the differences that he believes will give Artur Beterbiev the edge in his upcoming fight against Artur Beterbiev.
Bivol has made no secret of his desire to fight Beterbiev and crown an undisputed champion in the light-heavyweight division. Despite the 32-year-old considering a move down to the 168lb division to rematch Saul Canelo Alvarez for another undisputed title, he maintains that his primary focus is Beterbiev.
Whilst many eagerly wait that fight, the unified champion Beterbiev must first travel to London to take on his mandatory challenger, Anthony Yarde.
This will be Yarde’s second attempt at world honours following defeat to Sergey Kovalev in 2019, yet the Brit remains confident of becoming the first man to overcome the Russian-Canadian in the professional ring.
With a combined forty-one wins, with forty knockouts, fans are expecting fireworks in a clash of two powerful light-heavyweight titans.
However, Bivol has pointed out that Beterbiev’s experience in both title fights and the amateur game could be the key difference maker against a potentially overwhelmed Anthony Yarde, he told iFL TV.
“It is a good fight, Yarde looks strong but of course Beterbiev has much more experience than Yarde. Amateur experience, he is good in professional, he is strong too. It is an interesting fight but Beterbiev has more experience and more skills.”
Although Bivol has a clear interest in the fight with the aim of fighting the winner, the undefeated technician admitted that he would not be in attendance for the event.
“I think I will be busy at that time, I will be training. I start training for next fight, I hope”
It is unclear who Bivol would line up to fight in the meantime, but, if not Canelo, there are rumours that he could also fight a Brit, with the WBA’s current number one challenger being Joshua Buatsi.
Beterbiev and Yarde will face off at Wembley Arena on January 28.