- Dmitry Bivol exacted revenge over Artur Beterbiev over 12 hard-fought rounds
- The 34-year-old is now the undisputed king of the light heavyweight division
Again it was close. This time the other guy won.
Dmitry Bivol got his revenge over Artur Beterbiev and with it became the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world
Again, it was not unanimous. This time the judges leant the other way.
Now they have one reign each. Now they have One defeat each. Now they must surely go through it all again.
Both the two best light heavyweights of this era vowed to be better than the first time.
Beterbiev set about delivering that by starting faster than usual. On his seemingly injured knee which bothered him here in October.
Dmitry Bivol defeated Artur Beterbiev by majority decision to become undisputed light-heavyweight champion
Beterbiev started the clash aggressively and dominated much of the early portion of the fight
But the challenger rallied as the fight wore on and landed consistently whilst on the back foot
Once again the scorecards told the story of a close fight, but this time Bivol was the one who got the nod
Bivol talked of throwing more punches which he did in the second round.
Battle followed. Brutally In the third.
The largely pro Bivol crowd roared his punches, even when some of the flashier combinations missed or hit the gloves.
They fell quiet when Beterbiev set about the process of breaking him down in the fourth. Yet more painfully in the fifth.
Bivol was doing so well to stay in the fight and he rallied his fans with a big effort in the eighth. That spurred him into greater action in the ninth.
Which brought him trouble in the tenth.
So to the championship rounds. And a thrilling climax worthy of both men. But with the champion finishing with a huge assault.
Not quite enough said the judge. Almost for one who scored it 114-114. Not for the other two who carded 116-112 and 115-113 for Bivol in this deadly dance.
