The second-most meaningful boxing match of 2024 will take place in the same space where the most historically significant fight of this year occurred a little less than five months ago.
Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol fight Saturday night at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, because that’s where Turki Alalshikh — the only man willing to meet their respective asking prices — wants it. Beterbiev, Bivol, and members of their teams all admitted during a final press conference Thursday night in Riyadh that their long-awaited showdown wouldn’t have finally happened had the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia not fully funded it.
Their promoters couldn’t take their light heavyweight title unification fight to Russia — where Beterbiev was born and raised, and Bivol lived for much of his life — because boxing’s sanctioning organizations wouldn’t support the event there as long as Russia continued its war with Ukraine. Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs), who was born in Kyrgyzstan, was reluctant to box Beterbiev in Montreal, where Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) has lived and trained for more than a decade, because, despite that it would’ve made their fight more profitable, it would’ve put the unbeaten WBA champion at a distinct disadvantage.
Bringing Beterbiev vs. Bivol to Las Vegas, New York, or Los Angeles wouldn’t have worked economically either, for the reason that was so very obvious as they sat several feet apart Thursday night in the Saudi capital. As important historically and fascinating in-ring as this fight figures to be between two of the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the sport, it is essentially selling itself because neither Beterbiev nor Bivol is the least bit interested in promoting it.
This fight should sell itself, mind you, but Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, doubled down Thursday on calling Beterbiev “arrogant” for basically being an uncooperative participant in the promotion of a bout that, barring a draw or no contest, will crown boxing’s first fully unified light heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
English isn’t the first language of Beterbiev or Bivol, which partially prevented them from becoming bigger stars in the United States. The American market mattered more before this infusion of Saudi money into the industry because of the aforementioned factors that prevented promoters from taking Beterbiev vs. Bivol to Russia or Quebec.
Both boxers have nevertheless preferred to let their hands do the talking in a business that — whether they like it or not — requires more than the entertainment value even Beterbiev’s 100-percent knockout ratio has delivered since he turned pro 11 years ago.
That’s why Hearn quickly quipped Beterbiev “should try it” when the undefeated IBF/WBC/WBO 175-pound champion contended that the mouthy Matchroom Boxing chairman “talks a lot.”
“I think he is arrogant,” Hearn explained. “I think all fighters are arrogant. I think you have to be arrogant. But [calling Beterbiev arrogant] was more of a frustration to make sure the world is aware of what this fight is and what it means. Because as stone cold as Artur Beterbiev is and as stone cold as Dmitry Bivol is, there’s still that young boy that found boxing, that changed their life through boxing, that had a dream to win every belt in the sport.
“And sometimes one-word answers don’t always tell me the pure emotion and meaning of what victory would do for them on Saturday night. Artur Beterbiev is one of the greatest fighters of our generation. And the man to my right [Bivol] is one of the purest boxers I’ve ever seen.”
Much like the biggest boxing match of 2024, Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury, Beterbiev vs. Bivol is commonly considered a fight that could go either way. Fury, of course, is a P.T. Barnum-level carnival barker who singlehandedly sells his heavyweight fights.
His promotional mastery helped Fury and Ukraine’s Usyk earn combined purses that approached $100 million for a heavyweight title unification clash Usyk won by split decision on May 18. Their immediate rematch is scheduled for December 21 at Kingdom Arena.
Beterbiev, 39, and Bivol, 33, will make approximately $10 million apiece for a fight that Beterbiev’s primary promoter, Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc., made sure to keep off of the problematic pay-per-view platform in the United States. American fans with ESPN+ subscriptions can watch Beterbiev vs. Bivol live for no additional fee, whereas British boxing enthusiasts must pay £19.99 to watch the main event of a DAZN pay-per-view event in the United Kingdom.
Bivol believes his boxing ability, ring IQ, and athleticism will help set this technician apart from Beterbiev, a punishing puncher whose boxing skills are underrated. A long-reigning champion, Bivol upset superstar Canelo Alvarez by unanimous decision in May 2022, yet couldn’t capitalize on the momentum of his convincing, legacy-changing victory because the two couldn’t come to financial terms for a rematch.
Beterbiev, meanwhile, seeks his own legacy-defining feat toward the end of career limited to 20 fights in 11 years in large part due to various injuries and the devout Muslim’s prolonged legal battle with former promoter Yvon Michel.
“It’s hard to argue with perfection — 20-0, 20 knockouts,” said Brad Jacobs, Top Rank’s chief operating officer. “The man has done it. He’s a true professional. If you look up the word professional fighter in the dictionary, you’re going to see his picture. What you see is what you get. There’s so much on the line in this fight — undisputed, undefeated, the winner checks his ticket to the Hall of Fame for sure. So we’re really looking forward to it, and we trust that the knockout power will win at the end of the day.”
While anxious to finally battle Bivol, the closest Beterbiev has come to talking trash is the vicious knockout artist’s insistence that this fight didn’t happen sooner because Bivol doesn’t truly want it.
Manager Vadim Kornilov, who has worked with Bivol for almost 10 years, refuted Beterbiev’s belief that Bivol avoided him, as did Hearn. They contended, too, that Bivol’s power has been overlooked because before his sixth-round stoppage of previously undefeated Malik Zinad in his last bout June 1 in Riyadh, each of Bivol’s previous nine fights went the 12-round distance.
“This is it,” Hearn said. “This is the moment for both men. I believe Dmitry Bivol will become undisputed world champion on Saturday night. He will achieve his lifelong dream. And he fights to the level of opposition, and he has the greatest opponent in the division in front of him on Saturday night. There is only one man in the world that can beat Artur Beterbiev, and that’s Dmitry Bivol. And that will happen on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.”
