Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol Preview Feb. 22nd, 2025
Unbeaten and undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion Artur Beterbiev of Russia meets his fellow countryman and former WBA (Super) and IBO Champion Dmitry Bivol in a rematch this Saturday, Feb. 22nd. The 12-round battle takes place in Saudi Arabia and can be seen live on pay-per-view. The two first met in October with Beterbiev taking Bivol’s belts via a controversial split decision. Beterbiev has held his IBF crown since 2017, the WBC belt since 2019 and the WBO hardware since 2022. Bivol was crowned IBO Champion in 2023 and held a version of the WBA Belt since 2017.
Beterbiev vs Bivol Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Dmitry Bivol -105
- Artur Beterbiev -125
My Pick
Beterbiev won the vacant IBF title in 2017 by stopping Enrico Koelling in the 12th round and before meeting Bivol four months ago, defended it against Callum Johnson, Radivoje Kalajdzic, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Adam Deines, Marcus Browne, Joe Smith Jr, Anthony Yarde and Callum Smith all by way of stoppage. He won the WBO Belt when he beat Smith and the WBC version when he halted Gvozdyk. The 40-year-old, who fights out of Montreal, Canada, is a former world amateur champion and Olympian who turned pro in 2013 and has boxed just 110 rounds since.
The reason for such few rounds in the bank is because he’s knocked out all of his opponents while compiling a perfect record of 21-0 with 20 Ko’s. This means his knockout ratio currently stands at 94.2 per cent with Bivol the only man to go the distance with him. However, he’s sometimes disappointed fans and critics by shying away from the big guns of the light heavyweight division other than Bivol, Gvozdyk, Browne and Smith.
Beterbiev’s also beaten the likes of former world champions Gabriel Campillo in 2015 and Tavoris Cloud a year earlier. Size-wise, Beterbiev isn’t the biggest light heavyweight around as he’s just under 6-feet tall with a reach of 73 inches. He obviously has fine boxing skills that were utilized during his amateur career but since turning pro he hasn’t really had the chance to use them as he’s been on a seek-and-destroy mission over the past few years and has been very successful at it so far.
Beterbiev has a pretty solid chin but he’s been on the canvas before as Jeff Page Jr. dropped him in the first round in 2014. However he got up and stopped Page the next round after decking him twice. The knock against Beterbiev is that he doesn’t use his jab enough, lacks hand speed and doesn’t move his head much either, which makes him a bit of a sitting duck. But he hasn’t paid for it yet due to his tremendous power and determination. Since turning pro, he’s also won the NABA, WBO International, WBO NABO, and IBF North American Light Heavyweight titles.
The 34-year-old Bivol was born in Kyrgyzstan and fights out of California. He enjoyed an excellent amateur career with a reported record of 268-15 and won numerous national championships before turning pro in 2014. Since then he’s boxed 202 rounds and has compiled a near-perfect record of 23-1 with 12 Kos. He has pretty good power in his punches even though his current knockout ratio stands at just 52.2 per cent and has gone the distance in 10 of his last 11outings with his last stoppage coming in 2018 when he halted Sullivan Barrera in the 12th round.
Bivol stands 6-feet tall with a 72-inch reach so is a half-inch taller than Beterbiev but gives up an inch in reach. He possesses smooth boxing skills if he doesn’t eventually wear his foes down with his power shots he usually cruises to a decision. Other than meeting Beterbiev, he’s faced some pretty good opponents so far with wins over Gilberto Ramirez, Canelo Alvarez, Lenin Castillo, Joe Smith, Jean Pascal, Isaac Chilemba, Sullivan Barrera, Cedric Agnew, Robert Berridge and Felix Valera. Bivol won the interim WBA Championship in May, 2016 when he beat Valera by a unanimous decision. He was then elevated to full champion when Badou Jack gave up the WBA title after beating former champ Nathan Cleverly.
Prediction…
Beterbiev’s 40 years old now and was dropped by Jeff Page 10 years ago and rocked by Anthony Yarde but Bivol never really had him in trouble in their first fight. Beterbiev eventually catches up to his opponents and finishes them off but he wasn’t able to do that against Bivol even though he appeared to have more success as the fight went on. That contest showcased the matador vs bull scenario and although I believe Bivol did enough to win it, he should have left no doubt in the eyes of the judges by sustaining his punch output rather than fighting in spurts. I believe Beterbiev gave it his best shot to try to stop Bivol but Bivol has room for improvement. If Bivol realizes what he did wrong in October and rectifies it by keeping the pressure on Beterbiev by letting his hands go more often I believe he’ll be rightly rewarded by the judges this time around. He simply has to throw more punches than Beterbiev as he landed at a 33.6 per cent clip in the first fight to Beterbiev’s 20.1 per cent.
Bivol has the better boxing skills and has enough power to do some damage.
Play Bivol -105 @ BetOnline.ag
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Artur Beterbiev betting • Dmitry Bivol betting