Former world champion Roy Jones Jr. considers Dmitry Bivol the favorite for his light heavyweight title fight against unified champion Artur Beterbiev on October 12 in Riyadh.
Roy Jr. points out that IBF/WBC/WBO 175-lb champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) has been knocked down before in his career, and feels that gives WBA champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) profit.
Two-time Olympian Beterbiev has been knocked down twice during his 11-year professional career, while Bivol has never been knocked down during his ten-year career. In Roy's mind, that means Bivol is the favorite to win.
Short Recovery Time
What Jones Jr. can say is Beterbiev's age, inactivity, and his recent meniscus injury in his knee, which caused the postponement of his June 1 fight against Bivol, pushing it to October 12.
The short rehabilitation period that Beterbiev was given to recover from his knee injury could prove to be more important than his last years' knockdown by heavy puncher Callum Johnson in 2018.
It's unclear why the Honorable Turki Alalshikh rescheduled the fight so soon after Beterbiev's meniscus injury, but that would have to be in favor of Eddie Hearn-promoted Bivol in this fight.
That's a huge advantage for Hearn's fighter, Bivol, to fight Beterbiev, who is fresh off a knee injury and has a short recovery time.
Ideally, the fight should be rescheduled for the first quarter of 2025 so that Beterbiev has enough time to rehabilitate his knee and build strength before returning to training.
Jones Jr. Prediction: 60-40 in Favor of Bivol
“No, not 50-50. One, Beterbiev is 38 years old [correction: 39]. Beterbiev is down. Bivol never went down. Bivol had been in a match with the then number one, Canelo Alvarez. He made him look like nothing,” Roy Jones Jr. said. on Boxing Social, saying he doesn't consider the October 12 light heavyweight championship bout between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol a “50-50” contest.
Bivol's victory over the much younger Canelo Alvarez is not a good reason why Bivol should be favored in this fight, Canelo was too young to fight Bivol, and he would have lost badly if he had fought Beterbiev. The Mexican star does not enter at 175.
“Beterbiev has everything to show me to bring it back to 50-50. Currently, Bivol has a 60-40 advantage. Bivol is one hell of a boy and one hell of a warrior and has incredible strength, but he's also been down. [against Callum Johnson in 2018 and Jeff Page Jr. in 2014],” said Roy Jr.
Callum Johnson is a bigger puncher than Bivol, so it's no surprise that Beterbiev was knocked out by him in their fight six years ago. Beterbiev was careless in his attack, and Johnson nailed him for the second time. Johnson already had a first down. In the fourth round, Beterbiev knocked him out.
“So, when I look at that when I see someone knocking you down, I have to take it down,” said Roy Jr. “Now, that's a hell of a place to drop him off, though. So, it's a dangerous game for Bivol to play because Beterbiev is probably the most dangerous puncher ever in that division. [175].”
Bivol will not try to meet Beterbiev because he is not that type of fighter. Last Saturday evening, Bivol scored a rare knockout when he stopped his opponent Malik Zinad in the sixth round, but before that, he had not fought since 2018.
Bivol plays it safe unless he's against a limited player, like Zinad and Sullivan Barrera. What Bivol will likely be doing is trying to take Beterbiev out, take advantage of his short recovery from his knee injury, and defend.
“It's a good fight, but if it's 50-50, it's because of him [Beterbiev] punching power. Maybe he will stay, maybe he won't. It's only 50-50,” Jones Jr. said. “But in terms of the fighting game as a whole, Bivol has the advantage.”
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