Beterbiev Stops Browne In Montreal

The Bell Centre in Montreal had homecoming for unified champion Artur Beterbiev as he took on mandatory challenger Marcus Browne. The result was a good one as he won by ninth-round stoppage to retain.

The main event that aired on ESPN+ was the latest defense for Beterbiev since his last win against Adam Denies in Russia and his first bout back in Montreal since 2016. Browne came into the contest with a new trainer in Derrick James and relocation from New York to Texas to prepare for the bout.

Once the bell rang, the action took a moment to get started as both were trying to feel each other out.

There was a clash of heads in the 4th round started with Beterbiev getting the worst of the exchange with a cut in front in the center of his forehead and once the referee separated the two was when the action officially heated up. Beterbiev was steady being the aggressor as the fight pressed on as Browne was still looking to pick his spot and counter.

From there you can see Beterbiev try to press the issue for a stoppage as the Beterbiev was at this point sporting a crimson mask from the cut. You can see in between rounds that the cut was looking eerily similar to the one that Badou Jack suffered in his fight against Browne. Despite that at this point, Browne was getting peppered at this point of the fight and really had nothing much to offer back against Beterbiev.

As the fight entered the seventh, the cut was managed as well as it could but Browne was still offering little resistance or firepower back. Browne was sent down with a straight right in the seventh and from this point, this fight looked academic as Browne was on shaky legs and was getting absolutely rocked.

The ninth round was more of the sane and the merciful end of this fight as Browne was sent down against and the referee finally waived this one over.

With the win, we’ll see what is next up for Beterbiev as the Russian remains undefeated against a strong but outgunned Browne.