Bivol-Beterbiev: The Fight for Four Crowns
The fight became possible after the Saudis entered professional boxing, having already demonstrated their ability to negotiate with all interested parties and organise truly grand boxing events.
The organisers gave the upcoming fight the grandiose name ‘Battle for Four Crowns’ [VI Crown Showdown] and created a poster in a brutal style depicting the champions as ancient warriors.
The historical significance of the Bivol-Beterbiev fight
Light heavyweight (up to 79.4 kg) is one of the oldest weight classes in boxing and is still more popular than the neighbouring welterweight (up to 76.2 kg) and cruiserweight (up to 90.7 kg) classes. Many famous boxers have competed in this weight class over the years.
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However, there has not been a fight for the undisputed light heavyweight title for a long time. The last undisputed world light heavyweight champion was the legendary Roy Jones Jr., who held the WBC, WBA and IBF titles from 1999 to 2002.
During this time, the WBO belt was added to the list of major titles, and the fight between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev will not only be the first fight for the undisputed light heavyweight world title in the last twenty years, but also the first such fight in the era of the four major belts (WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO).
In addition, it will be the first fight in the history of professional boxing for the title of undisputed world champion between two Russian boxers, and it is worth noting that Russian boxers have consistently been among the leaders in light heavyweight for the last ten years.
Bivol and Beterbiev in the rankings
In addition to the significance of the title of undisputed world champion, which requires the unification of four championship belts, it is equally important that Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev are currently the undisputed strongest boxers in their division, having proven this in fights against the strongest contenders.
Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev have long shared first and second place in the rankings of the world’s strongest light heavyweights, and more importantly, both champions are among the ten best boxers in the world regardless of weight category (P4P).
Arthur Beterbiev ranks sixth in the P4P rankings of The Ring magazine and ESPN, while Dmitry Bivol ranks seventh in The Ring and fourth in ESPN.
Fights between two boxers from the P4P top 10 are very rare in professional boxing, so they are especially valuable for fans of this ranking, and the winner of the upcoming fight between Bivol and Beterbiev can claim a place in the top 3 best boxers in the world, which is currently firmly occupied by Naoya Inoue, Terence Crawford and Alexander Usyk.
Artur Beterbiev’s path to the title of undisputed champion
Nine-year-old Artur Beterbiev entered the professional ring quite late after a successful and long amateur career, which included victories at world championships and participation in two Olympic Games. and this experience, as well as his natural talent and powerful style combined with technique, allowed him to quickly rise to the ranks of contenders for the world title and then unify the championship titles in the three main versions.
One of the most remarkable and impressive features of Artur Beterbiev’s professional career is that, despite the increasing level of opposition, the Russian boxer has ended all his fights with early victories.
And while many boxers can boast similar knockout streaks at the beginning of their careers, early victories over other world champions and top contenders set Beterbiev apart even from other recognised knockout artists.
Artur Beterbiev won his first IBF world title in 2017, four years after starting his professional career. In 2019, he added the WBC belt by knocking out the undefeated Alexander Gvozdyk, and in 2022, he knocked out WBO world champion Joe Smith Jr. to unify the belts across three versions.
