At the end of the ninth round of Saturday’s light heavyweight title unification fight against Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev’s corner delivered a blunt message: You need to knock him out. For the better part of nine rounds Bivol had largely frustrated Beterbiev, jabbing sharply, moving fluidly, landing combinations with startling accuracy. If Beterbiev was going to win, he needed to do something special.
Beterbiev didn’t deliver the knockout but he did deliver, sweeping the final three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards to pull out a majority decision win. The result was disputed—Eddie Hearn, Bivol’s promoter, called the scoring, specifically the 116-112 card submitted by Pawel Kardyni, “sickening,” while Bivol’s co-promoter, Vadim Kornilov, said he plans to file an appeal—but far from outrageous. Beterbiev won enough of the middle rounds to keep the fight competitive, and his late surge was enough to pull the win out.
