Artur Beterbiev crowned undisputed light heavyweight boxing world champion
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Artur Beterbiev (left) and Dmitry Bivol go head to head during the press conference in London in September.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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RIYADH – Russian-born Canadian Artur Beterbiev was crowned boxing’s undisputed light heavyweight world champion after beating Russian rival Dmitry Bivol on a majority decision in Saudi Arabia on Oct 13.
Two of the three judges scored the fight 115-113 and 116-112 to Beterbiev, while the other called it tied at 114-114.
Both men were previously undefeated before the fight in Riyadh, with 33-year-old Bivol holding the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Organisation belts and Beterbiev, 39, the reigning World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion.
By taking Beterbiev to a full 12 rounds at the Saudi capital’s Kingdom Arena, Bivol became the first man to go the distance against a champion with a previous 100 per cent record of winning by knockout or stoppage.
“I wanted to box more. I don’t like this fight, I was a little bit uncomfortable,” said Beterbiev. “I felt uncomfortable because usually I’m not waiting for the bell.”
The headline clash, postponed from last June after Montreal-based Beterbiev suffered a knee injury, put the belts in the hands of one man for the first time.
The last undisputed light heavyweight champion was American Roy Jones Jr, who beat Reggie Johnson to unify the WBA, WBC and IBF belts in 1999.
Bivol made himself a moving target in a high-quality fight between the aggressive Beterbiev and a more fluid rival who landed eye-catching early blows and had the better of the early rounds.
There was little between the two at the halfway point, with Beterbiev possibly behind but every round a close call in a fight short of fireworks but with plenty for the purists.
Beterbiev knew he had to close with a bang in the last two rounds and raised the tempo, but Bivol hung in there and fired back some powerful combinations.
“I just congratulate Artur and his team, he deserves it,” said Bivol, looking forward also to a possible rematch.
“I did my job. I felt I could do better. I always feel I can do better, but that’s the opinion of the judges. He won.”
Australia’s Jai Opetaia earlier retained his IBF cruiserweight world title, when Jack Massey’s corner threw in the towel two minutes into the sixth round with the Briton bleeding from a cut to the side of his nose.
The convincing win took Opetaia’s record to 26-0.
Unbeaten Australian Skye Nicolson won the first women’s world title fight held in Saudi Arabia when she defended her WBC featherweight belt against Britain’s Raven Chapman in a unanimous decision.
A light heavyweight fight between Britons Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron ended in a draw after both crashed out of the ring.
Whittaker left the arena in a wheelchair and was taken to hospital for scans to his injured leg after he and Cameron grappled onto the ropes and tumbled over the top. Cameron was sprawled on Whittaker as they fell on the outer canvas towards the end of the fifth round, with the latter unable to get up.
The bout was abandoned due to accidental injury and declared a technical split draw, with Whittaker 58-57 on one scorecard and Cameron ahead by the same score on another with the third tied 58-58.
Meanwhile, Fabio Wardley stopped Frazer Clarke in the first round of their British heavyweight title fight. REUTERS
