WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol says the key for him to defeat IBF/WBC/WBO champ Artur Beterbiev is to make him uncomfortable, as often needed to win their fight this summer.
Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) notes that Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) has shown a “weak side” in some of his fights, and he plans on exploiting that when they meet in Saudi Arabia.
For Bivol to exploit the weaknesses that he’s seen in Beterbiev, he’s going to have to keep from getting knocked out early because he’s going to be on him.
Bivol moves well, but he cannot run for twelve rounds to keep Beterbiev from trapping him repeatedly in each round. He’s not that type of a mover.
Bivol is good at backing straight up, but he’s less effective going side to side to escape pressure. He hasn’t had to do that during his career because the only good fighter he’s faced is Canelo Alvarez, who was much smaller than him.
“We all have a weak side, and we all have a good side,” said Dmitry Bivol to Matchroom Boxing, talking about his undisputed clash with Artur Beterbiev this summer.
“Even him, we saw some of the moments that wasn’t good,” Bivol continued about Beterbiev. I “just need to create as many moments as I can to make it not comfortable fo him, and I shouldn’t let him create moments that aren’t comfortable for me. That’s it.
“We don’t have to think about it too much. Just do your work, and I have to do my work. I know I can win if I do my work well. Yeah, he does a lot of pressure, and sometimes I use this pressuring on my sparring,” said Bivol about Beterbiev being a good pressure fighter.
“It takes a lot of effort. It’s not easy to pressure all the time, and, of course, it’s not easy to move forward, too. I believe it’s the hardest test,” said Bivol about his fight with Beterbiev.
