Dmitry Bivol exacted revenge over Artur Beterbiev to capture the undisputed light heavyweight crown after a thrilling 12-round battle in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Bivol started smartly and looked the more effective boxer through the first few rounds, but Beterbiev hit the accelerator during the middle third of the fight as the momentum swung in favour of the defending undisputed champion.
But, as the bout hit the final stretch, it was Bivol who was doing enough to edge the rounds as he delivered on his pre-fight promise to bring more output and more intensity in the rematch.
That improvement from the first fight proved to be the difference-maker, as Bivol earned the majority decision victory, with the judges scoring the bout 114-114, 116-112, 115-113.
Dmitry Bivol MD Artur Beterbiev official judges’ scorecards. pic.twitter.com/53DOlqh24e
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) February 23, 2025
It gave Bivol victory over the only man to defeat him after Beterbiev took the victory – also via majority decision – in their first meeting and took Bivol’s undefeated record in the process.
Now Bivol returned the favour with a majority decision win of his own, and
“I just am so happy. I went through it a lot in the last year,” he told DAZN.
“To be honest, I lost and I feel a little bit easier maybe. I didn’t (feel the) pressure too much this time. I wanted to work from the first round to the end of the 12th.
“I was better. I was pushing myself more, I was more confident and I was lighter. I wanted to win so much today.
“I told myself he could stay from the beginning to disturb me. It was hard to keep him in the distance and then I saw that he was tired also. I had to be smarter and punch more clean punches and I did.”
Bivol also said that he’s ready for whatever the powers that be decide is next for him, with the potential for a bout with David Benavidez, or a trilogy bout with Beterbiev, the two most appealing options.
But, before he jumps back into a training camp to defend his undisputed crown, Bivol said he needs to take some time out to rest and recover after the intensity of back-to-back bouts with Beterbiev.
“I’m ready for any challenge,” he said.
“I want a little bit of rest because I had some injuries in the summer and this time I had injuries. I want to heal myself and come back.”
As for Beterbiev, he revealed that he didn’t actually want to face Bivol in the immediate rematch, but said that he thought the bout between the pair was better than the first, despite the result not going his way.
“I don’t want to talk about the decision, it’s tough. Congratulations to Bivol’s team,” he told DAZN.
“I thought this fight was better than the first fight, but we’ll see. Now it’s my time to come back.
“I didn’t want the second fight, it wasn’t my choice. But no problem. We can do a third fight if we need to.”
Also on the Riyadh Season card, Joseph Parker stopped last-minute replacement Martin Bakole in the second round to retain his WBO interim heavyweight title, while Shakur Stevenson finished his short-notice replacement opponent, Josh Padley, in the ninth round with body shots to retain his WBC lightweight crown.
Earlier in the night, Vergil Ortiz Jr. outpointed Israil Madrimov to retain his WBC interim super middleweight title, Agit Kabayel stopped Chinese giant Zhilei Zhang in the sixth round to capture the WBC interim heavyweight title, and Callum Smith outworked Joshua Buatsi to win the WBO interim light heavyweight title.
But the night wasn’t without some scoring controversy, as the WBC middleweight title bout between Carlos Adames and Hamzah Sheeraz ended in a split draw with the scorecards looking miles apart.
One judge scored the bout as a clear win for Adames, 118-110, while one scored it for Sheeraz at 115-114. The final judge scored the bout 114-114, meaning that Adames retained his title, but without taking Sheeraz’s undefeated record.
Riyadh Season: The Last Crescendo – Official results
- Dmitry Bivol def. Artur Beterbiev via majority decision (114-114, 116-112, 115-113) – for undisputed light heavyweight title
- Joseph Parker def. Martin Bakole via knockout – Round 2, 2:17 – for interim WBO heavyweight title
- Shakur Stevenson def. Josh Padley via knockout – Round 9, 3:00 – for WBC lightweight title
- Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz scored a split draw (118-110, 114-115, 114-114) – for WBC middleweight title
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. def. Israil Madrimov via unanimous decision (117-111, 115-113, 115-113) – for WBC interim super middleweight title
- Agit Kabayel def. Zhilei Zhang via knockout – Round 6, 2:29 – for WBC interim heavyweight title
- Callum Smith def. Joshua Buatsi via unanimous decision (119-110, 115-113, 116-112) – for interim WBO light heavyweight title
