Dmitry Bivol has shared his thoughts on the punching power of Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Artur Beterbiev after facing both fighters in the ring. The former WBA light-heavyweight champion lost his title to Beterbiev in a unification bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier this year.
Bivol, who defeated Canelo in 2022, compared the power of the two fighters in a recent interview. He described Beterbiev as "very powerful" and "dangerous."
"Of course. He's powerful. Very powerful. You can see I have a bruise from my hand. He always hit it and it was so hard [it bruised when my own hand] hit my eye."
The 33-year-old Russian boxer pointed out that Beterbiev's power comes from his ability to throw heavy punches in combinations. He noted that Beterbiev's style is "close and compact," with all his punches carrying significant weight.
In contrast, Bivol said Canelo puts all his energy into single punches. He explained:
"I could compare like with Canelo, yeah, he put all his energy, all his power on the single punch. And yeah, maybe single punch sometimes he's harder than Beterbiev. Beterbiev was more close and compact. But if you ask them to do five punches, Beterbiev, every punch will be hard. With Canelo, maybe the first hard and then not [so much.] … If we ask Beterbiev to [put everything into one punch] maybe his is harder, but he's not doing it."
The fight between Bivol and Beterbiev ended in a majority decision victory for the latter, making him the undisputed light-heavyweight champion. The result didn't sit well with everyone. Eddie Hearn, Bivol's promoter, called the result a robbery and demanded an immediate rematch. Bivol himself remained level-headed, thanking fans for their support and accepting that the fight didn't go in his favor.
The loss to Beterbiev has likely put a potential rematch with Canelo on hold. Canelo, the unified 168-pound champion, had expressed interest in a rematch if Bivol had won against Beterbiev. Instead, a rematch with Beterbiev seems more likely, as both fighters have expressed interest and their first bout produced a thrilling fight.
Beterbiev, now 39, entered the fight with Bivol holding the WBC, WBO, and IBF light-heavyweight titles and boasting a 100% knockout ratio. Canelo, on the other hand, has fought at light-heavyweight twice and has won five straight decision victories since his loss to Bivol.
You can watch Bivol's full interview comparing Canelo and Beterbiev's power on the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel.
