Beterbiev vs. Bivol CompuBox Numbers; What Did We Learn?
The CompuBox numbers have been released for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol rematch.
Bivol avenged his loss in the first fight with a majority decision win to become the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion: 116-112, 115-113, 114-114. The result was a reversal of the first fight as Beterbiev experienced his first loss. That has set the narrative for a trilogy, with both fighters on board. The CompuBox numbers showed that Bivol connected with 142 punches, while Beterbiev had less at 137. But Beterbiev landed more power shots at 90, compared to Bivol’s 84.
Bivol was more successful in the first half of the fight, with his power punches. He outlanded his man by 33 to 23. But Beterbiev turned that around by landing 67 power punches, while Bivol had 51 in the last six rounds. This showed in rounds 11 and 12. Beterbiev had 29 power punches to Bivol’s 19. But Bivol is the only person to have gone the full 12 rounds with Beterbiev on two occasions now, showing just how well he performed.
But the result did not satisfy Beterbiev’s camp. His coach, Stephen Edwards, questioned the scoring. Edwards felt that the fight could have been a draw or 115-113 to either fighter. He could not understand the 116-112 card. He also felt there was an element of favoritism in the commentary towards Bivol. Nevertheless, most of the boxing community still had Bivol winning. Carl Froch and Michael Conlan had Bivol winning. But Edwards did not see it that way.
Beterbiev’s Coach
“I don’t like the way the [DAZN] announcers favor everything that Bivol does. In the first part of the fight, Beterbiev had a good round, and they were showing highlights of Bivol. The same thing happened in the first fight. I was saying to myself, ‘If it’s close, they’re going to give it to Bivol.’ For me, there was no separation between the two. The fight looked like a draw. Down the stretch, I thought Beterbiev won the tenth, Bivol won the eleventh, and Beterbiev won the twelfth. The fight was in the balance going down the stretch.
“I have no problems with 6-6, which is 114-114. I have no problems with 115-113 either way. [And] I felt Beterbiev took over the middle rounds, and Bivol came back on. It was a back-and-forth type of thing. I think Beterbiev wasn’t getting credit for the earlier rounds. I was actually shocked to hear 116-112. Neither guy won eight rounds. The [DAZN] commentators have to be completely objective. I feel like, a lot of times, they’re biased. I feel like they have an agenda. For two fights in a row, they favor Bivol consistently, even with the replays,” Edwards said
Full Card
Dmitry Bivol defeated Artur Beterbiev by majority decision (12 rounds) to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion (WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF, Ring Magazine).
Joseph Parker knocked out Martin Bakole in round 2 (12-round fight) to keep his WBO interim heavyweight title.
Shakur Stevenson stopped Josh Padley in round 9 to retain his WBC lightweight title.
Carlos Adames and Hamzah Sheeraz fought to a split draw (12 rounds), so Adames kept his WBC middleweight title.
Vergil Ortiz beat Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision (12 rounds) to keep his WBC interim super welterweight title.
Agit Kabayel stopped Zhilei Zhang in round 6 to win the vacant WBC interim heavyweight title.
Callum Smith defeated Joshua Buatsi by unanimous decision (12 rounds) to win the WBO interim light heavyweight title.
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