Is Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol next? Unified champ’s plans revealed after Anthony Yarde KO

WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON — Artur Beterbiev chillingly claimed he is still “just starting, just waking up” following his victory over Anthony Yarde, as an undisputed showdown with Dmitry Bivol looms large. 

The Canadian-Russian retained his WBC, WBO and IBF world light-heavyweight titles on Saturday evening, after a thrilling battle in the British underdog’s own backyard that saw Beterbiev move to 19-0 as a pro. Remarkably, every one of those 19 victories has come by way of knockout. 

Yarde proved to be a worthy challenger, showing incredible heart to match a few very bright moments in which he had Beterbiev clearly hurt, especially after being cut in the sixth. The power was there, even if the combinations weren’t.

Beterbiev had both, though, with his vicious bursts in the corners in particular being truly felt at ringside. The sound of his power punches through the air and then again on impact is unlike anything else below the heavyweight ranks. 

In round eight, the 38-year-old finally had Yarde on the canvas, with the dazed home fighter’s corner sensibly calling it a night. Yarde elevated himself in defeat thanks to a bold display which puts him in the conversation for further marquee main events, but Beterbiev was simply on another level. 

Attention now turns to the one man at 175lb seemingly on his level, in Bivol. The 21-0 Russian took The Sporting News’ Male Boxer of the Year honours in 2022, thanks to comprehensive UD victories over Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez and former pound-for-pound king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. 

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A bloodied Beterbiev insisted the Bivol clash would be “a good job” in the bowels of Wembley Arena after the instant-classic, with Carl Moretti of promoters Top Rank adding more meat to the bone: “Bivol is the biggest fight you can make. It’s one of the biggest fights in the sport.

“I appreciate when mandatories come up, but when you have a full unification with two fighters like that… we know the manager of Bivol very well, so we’ll reach out to him and try and make this fight next. The only reluctance I could see is if he’s promised Canelo, but Bivol’s a real fighter. 

“[It’s targeted for] summer. As we know, Artur is a devout Muslim, so we got Ramadan and everything, and it’ll come in summer.” 

As Moretti mentions, Bivol’s plans for a rematch with Canelo — be it at light-heavyweight once again, or for the Mexican’s undisputed super-middleweight crown — is certainly a stumbling block. Aside from the competitive appeal, Canelo remains the biggest name in the sport and thus an enormous payday, while Eddie Hearn told The Sporting News he is working on making the rematch. 

Bivol’s status, or lack thereof, with the WBC also means that the dream match may not be for all the marbles. The WBC have banned all Russian boxers from competing for their titles following the invasion of Ukraine, with Beterbiev now fighting under the Canadian flag.

Unless WBA title-holder Bivol was to make a similar choice, some of the lustre would be lost. The mandatory for the WBC strap is Callum Smith, who has twice won by knockout at 175lbs since his step up in weight, following a late 2020 defeat to Canelo. 

🤩 @EddieHearn has some 𝐛𝐢𝐠 plans for 2023, wanting his fighters to take on @SunnyEdwards, @Serranosisters, @BronzeBomber and more!

🤔 Which of these 10 fights do you want to see most? pic.twitter.com/2vYaW95GwL

— Sporting News Boxing (@sn_fights) January 9, 2023

‘Why did he say I’m slow? He’s slow, not me!’ 

Beterbiev himself refused to comment on Smith, with the focus of the champion and trainer Marc Ramsay being on the good night’s work they had just overseen. Ramsay reflected: “I will not say I was surprised [by the resistance from Yarde], because already we can see in a fight that he did with [Sergey] Kovalev he was able to take a good punch and he’s a genetically very gifted, he is a good athlete.

“You know he generates power, everybody knows that, especially from round one to round five or six. We just want to make sure he don’t do any kind of stupid move at the beginning of the fight, takes a stupid punch for nothing, and make sure that we bring [Yarde] in the deep water of the second part of the fight. That was the plan with Anthony.

“In the majority of the fights, Artur hit them and we see the fight turn right away. In this fight, also in the Kovalev fight, he showed he’s able to have a good chin, he’s able to take a good punch. The capacity to take a punch is not problematic — the organic resistance was problematic for him.

“Professional boxing is a marathon, it’s 12 rounds, it’s not a sprint, it’s not four, it’s not five, it’s not six rounds. Artur was able to be patient and at one point we know we’re going to catch him.” 

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Insisting there is a lot more to come, despite his perfect record since turning pro in 2013, Beterbiev continued: “There is only eight rounds I can show my performance. I’m just starting, I think. Being honest, I’m just waking up. 

“He watched my last fight and said I’m slow! During the fight, I’m thinking, ‘Why did he say I’m slow? He’s slow, not me!’ He made some mistake somewhere. I think he’s slow, not me.

“You never know how it’s going. You can you can have some strategies, some scenarios, but you never know. He did a good fight. I did not bad too. I can’t say he was the toughest fight [of my career] but he’s good. He did a good job. I think I’m in control, we have controlled it.

“When you fight for unification, it’s different. For me, it’s more difficult than for Yarde, because he can get three belts in one shot now. It’s not easy for him when challenging, but when you defend it’s more difficult.

“Yes [he can win a world title]. I think yes because he’s young, he has potential now. For now, I think he has good experience.” 

On the call of Yarde’s cornerman Tunde Ajayi to pull the 31-year-old out of harm’s way, Beterbiev said: “It was a good decision. The coach has to feel his fighter, when to stop. I don’t want to kill someone, I just want to win.”

Winning is the one thing Beterbiev keeps on doing thanks to his supreme power, but he was quick to laugh off any suggestions he’s at a stage where he can choose how quickly to end a fight such as this:  “No, I’m not Muhammad Ali! Muhammad Ali says ‘I stop in eighth round’ and he stopped in eighth round. I’m a very simple person. I’m not Muhammad Ali.” 

A “simple person” with a simple pro record: win via KO. Boxing fans will now hope the least simple part of the sport — matchmaking amid promotional politics — can follow Beterbiev’s lead in cutting straight to the good stuff.