Artur Beterbiev has changed his mind about fighting Oleksandr Usyk. The undisputed light heavyweight champion now thinks Usyk is too strong for him, even at cruiserweight.
Usyk, the unified heavyweight champion, recently kept his WBC, WBA, and WBO titles. He beat Tyson Fury for the second time in December, winning by points. At 38, the Ukrainian boxer plans to keep fighting and might even go back to cruiserweight.
Earlier, Beterbiev wanted to move up to 200lbs to face Usyk. He said it wasn't about the money:
"I repeat, from a pure sporting perspective I would be interested in this fight, of course, because we boxed in the Olympics and the World Championships as amateurs. It would be interesting to try as professionals, not for money, although money would be nice, but my interest in this fight would be purely sporting, much more than monetary. Much more."
But now, the 40-year-old Russian boxer has changed his tune. In a recent interview with FightHub TV, Beterbiev said:
"No, he's too strong for me you know. He's like heavyweight you know it's too strong even if he came back down. He's too strong [even at cruiserweight], too good."
Beterbiev isn't thinking about Usyk right now. He's getting ready for another big fight. On February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he'll face Dmitry Bivol again. Beterbiev won their first match last October. This rematch is for the undisputed championship. If he wins, Beterbiev will cement his place as the best light heavyweight of his time.
