Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol II: Bob Arum Discusses Rematch

On Saturday, October 12, Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) became the first undisputed light heavyweight champion in the four-belt era, by defeating Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was a fascinating main event with much controversy surrounding the scorecards. Bob Arum has now spoken to Dan Rafael on the Big Fight Weekend preview podcast about the controversy surrounding the scorecards and a possible rematch.

Bob Arum Weighs in on Beterbiev vs. Bivol Rematch

Arum Explains Why Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol II May Be Delayed

Dan Rafael and other media personnel have recently reported that Dmitry Bivol’s team have officially contacted all four governing bodies to request an immediate rematch. Top Rank chairman Arum has had his say on the much-talked-about scorecards: “I thought Beterbiev won the fight 7-5 (in rounds), particularly because he came on in the late rounds to sweep the late rounds, which he had to do to win the fight,” Arum said.

Despite the scorecards being widely debated, all three judges scored the final three rounds for Beterbiev, and Arum addressed the controversy further by saying: “I think before people make any judgment about the fight, they should look at the judges’ scorecards.”

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He continued: “I mean, the three judges had 10 rounds identical. In other words, there was no dispute as far as 10 rounds were concerned. And that came out six for Beterbiev, four for Bivol. Now, there were two rounds where the judges split. … It was a very well-judged fight. It wasn’t judges being all over the place. They saw at least 10 rounds the same. I had Beterbiev winning 7-5 and I think that a lot of people viewing that fight who claimed that Bivol won were influenced by the TV production, which was done by DAZN even though in the United States it was shown on ESPN+ — because between rounds when they reviewed the highlights of the previous round, overwhelmingly, it was for Bivol.” 

Arum added regarding the coverage of the fight: “(The replays were) Bivol-friendly because Bivol was a DAZN fighter with Eddie Hearn and with Vadim, and I think that influenced a lot of people. That being said, it was a very, very close, very well-fought fight.”

To hear the snippet of the Bob Arum interview and more from the “Big Fight Weekend/Fight Freaks Unite Preview Podcast” with Dan Rafael and TJ Rives, click the play button below.

Rematch and Possible Delay

Despite both fighters being open to the rematch as well as Turki Alalshikh, Arum revealed that a rematch might not be so straightforward: “Turki, who loves boxing, wants to see a rematch and I think the public would love to see a rematch,”Arum said. “But again, because the Riyadh Season ends in February, the earliest date for a rematch would be next October (when the next festival begins).”

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The Top Rank chairman also hinted that big fights outside of Riyadh Season may be a thing of the past: “That is not what they’re going to do in the future,” Arum said. “I think there was a lot of pushback on His Excellency (Alalshikh) for doing fights outside of Saudi Arabia and outside of Riyadh Season. So, I think going forward, you know, in order to tap into the large budget that they will have they will have to do the fights in Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia, which makes sense.”

Talking about a possible interim bout for both, Arum said: “So it may mean that each of these guys fight one more time against other opponents, and then for October of next year they do the rematch. I think that is the likely, from a business standpoint, the likeliest thing that will happen and I think that’s a reasonable thing — if guys take interim fights, if they’re amenable to it.”