The fight ended in victory for the Russian boxer by unanimous decision.
Source: AP 2023
TASS, December 24. Russian Dmitry Bivol defended the title of super world champion according to the World Boxing Association (WBA) in the weight category up to 79.38 kg and won the world champion belt of the International Boxing Organization (IBO), which is not included in the prestigious versions. In a 12-round fight held in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), he defeated Briton Lyndon Arthur by unanimous decision.
All three judges gave the victory to Bivol – 120:107, 120:107, 120:107, considering that he won all rounds.
The fight followed one scenario – Bivol worked as number one, put pressure, pressed, and the Briton acted on retreats and counterattacks. The Russian was more active and more accurate than his opponent, but for a long time he was unable to land a solid blow. The Briton felt the distance well and immediately moved to the side or leaned back after the first missed blow, thereby disrupting the opponent’s rhythm. Because of this, Bivol often failed in multi-hit combinations and the attacks choked after one or two hits. The Russian rarely hit the body, although at times it seemed that it was these blows that caused the most damage to the Briton.
In the 11th round, Bivol launched an offensive assault, and at the very end, Arthur sank to the floor, allowing the judge to count the knockdown. After he stood up, the gong sounded to end the round. In the final round, the Russian tried to finish, but the Briton withstood this onslaught and finished the fight on his feet.
The next fight is against Beterbiev?
Bivol defended the WBA title for the 11th time, which he has held since 2017. The athlete, in the seventh fight of his career, won the interim WBA world title thanks to his victory over Dominican Felix Valera in 2016. Having defended the belt in a duel with New Zealander Robert Burridge, Bivol was declared world champion on a permanent basis after the retirement of the American Andre Ward, who held the belt at that time, and the refusal of the Swede Badu Jack.
In November 2017, Bivol successfully carried out his first defense, knocking out Australian Trent Broadhurst at the end of the opening round. In March 2018, the Russian defeated mandatory challenger Cuban Sullivan Barrera by technical knockout in the 12th round, and then by decision of the Malawian Isaac Chilembu, Canadian Jean Pascal, American Joe Smith Jr., Dominican Lenin Castillo, British Craig Richards, compatriot Umar Salamov, the absolute world champion in the weight category up to 76.2 kg, Mexican Saul Alvarez, and another representative of Mexico, Gilberto Ramirez. In October 2019, the Russian was awarded the status of WBA super world champion. 33-year-old Bivol is still unbeaten in the professional ring – 22 wins (11 by knockout). Bivol extended his winning streak by decision to nine fights.
Bivol can hold his next fight for the title of absolute world champion against compatriot Artur Beterbiev, who owns belts in the three remaining prestigious versions. Beterbiev will defend his titles on January 14 against Briton Callum Smith.
32-year-old Arthur suffered the 2nd defeat of his career with 23 wins (16 by knockout). It was his first time boxing for the prestigious world title. In his last fight he won the IBO world champion belt. The Briton famously defeated two-time world title challenger and compatriot Anthony Yarde in 2020, only to lose to him in a re-fight the following year.
At the moment, three Russians hold championship titles in prestigious versions: in addition to Bivol and Beterbiev, who holds the belts of the World Boxing Council, the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization in the weight category up to 79.38 kg, the WBA world champion in weight up to 101, 6 kg is Evgeniy Tishchenko.
2023-12-23 21:27:37
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