RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA. OCT 12: Artur Beterbiev v Dmitry Bivol fight night for the Undisputed Light-Heavyweight Championships, IV Crown Showdown, Riyadh Season. 12th October 2024. Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Queensberry Promotions. Credit: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry Promotions
Dmitrii Bivol wants to run it back with Artur Beterbiev and seeks as much support as possible to make it happen.
The Ring has confirmed that Bivol’s team has filed a request for an immediate rematch with all four sanctioning bodies. The basis for the appeal is the majority belief that the previously long-reigning WBA light heavyweight titlist deserved the nod in their Oct. 12 RING/undisputed championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 knockouts) won their fight via majority decision. The unofficial take among most observers was that Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) did enough to fully unify the division. However, he failed to win on any of the three official scorecards—114-114 even, 115-113 and 116-112 for Beterbiev.
With the win, Beterbiev was crowned RING and WBA champion. He retained his lineal, WBC, IBF and WBO crowns. In total, he gained recognition as the sport’s first undisputed light heavyweight champion since Roy Jones abdicated the throne in 2002.
Among those who saw Bivol prevail was event organizer Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.
“This was one of the great fights of the last 20 years I think,” Alalshikh told The Stomping Grounds’ Charlie Parsons. “But I don’t think the result was fair, in my opinion. The two fighters are like my brothers, but I think Bivol won two rounds more.
“I will focus and I will try to do the rematch. If they accept, we will do it.”
Bivol’s side has taken the additional step of securing greater reinforcements. His legal team has contacted the heads of all four sanctioning bodies, according to a letter obtained by The Ring.
“Due to the fact that this fight was quite controversial, we proceeded with a rematch request and protest of the decision with all of the sanctioning bodies,” Vadim Kornilov, Bivol’s career-long manager, told The Ring in a provided quote. “And we are still working on the possibility of a review of the 116-112 scorecard.”
The latter part is in reference to judge Pawel Kardyni, whose 116-112 card was the outlier from public opinion. Kornilov called for a thorough review of his scorecard, though such matters are often dealt with at the sanctioning bodies’ desired (deliberate) pace.
The legal team for Bivol was also involved—and drew paralles to—in a far more controversial decision more than 25 years ago.
The near-universal take was that Lennox Lewis did more than enough to defeat Evander Holyfield in their March 1999 undisputed heavyweight championship. The towering Brit was forced to settle for an unpopular split decision draw at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
It produced the unanimous verdict amongst all involved—including the sanctioning bodies—that a rematch had to happen next. That was the exact course of action, where Lewis edged Holyfield eight months later in Las Vegas.
“The result of that bout was among the most controversial in history, with a highly disputed draw,” argued attorney Patrick English, who represents all of Kornilov’s clients and is also the longtime attorney for Main Events. “Boxing fans demanded a rematch. The fighters wanted a rematch. I filed an appropriate petition with the ratings organizations for a rematch.
“Today I make this petition on behalf of Dmitrii Bivol. The circumstances are similar to Holyfield /Lewis. Dmitrii Bivol, then the WBA Champion fought Artur Beterbiev last Saturday night. Bivol held the WBA and IBO Light Heavyweight titles while Beterbiev held the IBF, WBC, and WBO titles. The result was a hotly disputed majority decision which Beterbiev won on the
cards. To say that the decision was hotly contested is an understatement.”
The complaint included multiple press clippings from publications who had Bivol ahead. It also cited the public statements made by promoters Eddie Hearn (Bivol’s promoter) and Frank Warren, who believed Bivol won. Hearn took it a step further and declared that everything that Bivol had worked for as a titlist for seven years was ripped away from him by judging incompetence.
A poll conducted by The Ring wasn’t quite as conclusive.
Bivol was viewed as the winner by nine of the 21 industry insiders and experts. Five felt that Beterbiev won, while another seven either had it a draw or were “undecided.”
The combined results of a scoring poll conducted by Boxing News+—headed by Rob Tebbutt, the sport’s leading fight night pizza connoisseur—scored it 115-113 Beterbiev.
Nevertheless, Bivol and his team are rolling with the majority opinion as well as those in power to force a rematch.
“Mr. Bivol has requested a rematch,” insisted Bivol’s legal team. “The Promoters of the bout, Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, and Turki Alalshikh have said they think a rematch is warranted.
“Mr. Beterbiev has stated that if the promoters want a rematch he agrees to do so.”
Bivol held the full version of the WBA light heavyweight title since Nov. 2017. He made eleven successful defenses of the belt and was hailed as 2022 Fighter of the Year.
His reign was one week longer than Beterbiev’s IBF title win at the time of their light heavyweight summit meeting. Following Saturday’s result, Beterbiev is second only to Knockout CP Freshmart as the sport’s longest reigning active male titleholder. Freshmart (25-0, 9 KOs) has held the WBA strawweight title since June 2016.
