How do you beat Artur Beterbiev? No professional opponent has yet figured out how to go the distance with him, let alone defeat him.
The unified WBO, WBC and IBF light-heavyweight world champion has a pristine 100 per cent knockout ratio.
But this Saturday, live on Sky Sports Box Office, he will face his ultimate test against WBA titlist Dmitry Bivol in the Riyadh Season event.
Bivol might just be the only 175lb fighter with the tools to beat the unified champion. But defusing Beterbiev’s fearsome combination of pressure and power is a daunting puzzle.
“Someone like that if you’re just running around, he’ll just bully you. You need to get some sort of respect from the start but you’ve got to fight your game plan too,” Olympic star Ben Whittaker told Sky Sports.
But Whittaker declined to reveal too much about how he would take on Beterbiev himself. “I can’t give away all the gems,” he added.
“He cuts down the ring very well and when you cut down the ring like that you don’t need to move all crazy. He makes you move crazy and walk you on to shots. Very clever fighter, I’m excited for the fight.
“You can’t just box him and you can’t just fight him. I think there’s a time and a place where you need to move and there’s a time and a place where you need to hold your feet.”
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Ahead of this weekend’s superfight with Dmitry Bivol, check out some of Artur Beterbiev’s most devastating knockouts, with the unified light-heavyweight champion having stopped all 20 of his opponents to date
It is a frightening prospect, though. Beterbiev might just be the scariest fighter fighter in the sport.
“There isn’t another scarier,” reflected Kamil Szeremeta, the middleweight who will box Chris Eubank Jr on Saturday’s show.
“I wouldn’t say that because I’m not scared of anyone. There is no fear for me of any opponent.
“I would do what I can [against Beterbiev] and it would be a street fight. Me or him.”
As counter-intuitive as it might sound, meeting Beterbiev head on, where he is strongest, could be the right thing to do.
Liam Cameron will fight Whittaker on the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard. If he had to fight the unified champion Cameron suggested: “I’d just think I’m going to go in there and I’m going to swing with him.
“Because I’m not prolonging damage moving for him to catch me when I’m tired. Just try to chin him early and fast.”
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Rulers of the light-heavyweight division Beterbiev and Bivol went head to head at the London press conference for their October 12 fight
Fighting according to your own style would be sensible. “I wouldn’t have the ability to box and move in and out for 12 rounds the way Bivol has that ability to do,” said former world title challenger Matthew Macklin. “I’d mix it up box-fighting, for me getting backed up by Beterbiev would be a disaster.
“If you’re electing to take the backfoot and box someone and take a bit of room and angles, that’s very different from being pushed back and backed up. You’re being backed up, you’re under pressure. You’re burning nervous energy at a faster rate than you’d like to be doing so and you’re getting forced into making mistakes.
“Coming forward it might look like more dangerous tactics but sometimes fighting fire with fire is actually safer tactics.
“Sometimes backing up you’re inviting more pressure. Actually meeting it head on, you might deter it a little bit.
“It’s something I would have had to have met head on. And hope for the best!”
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Watch Beterbiev and Bivol face-off for the first time ahead of their undisputed light-heavyweight clash
Offsetting Beterbiev with footwork, movement and rapid combination punching ought, theoretically, to be the best route to success. And that is the style Bivol has honed throughout his career.
European cruiserweight champion Jack Massey argued that to approach Bivol: “You’ve just got to stick and move. Box and move, box and move, not let him track you down.
“I’m edging towards Bivol. I believe he can outbox him. We’ll see. I think it’s a great fight.”
Jai Opetaia, who defends the IBF cruiserweight title against Massey on Saturday’s bill, agreed with him on that.
Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke is part of the packed Beterbiev vs Bivol bill on Sky Sports Box Office
“You’ve got to do exactly what Bivol does best and keep moving and cutting angles. He’s a great fighter. It’s a great chess match this fight. It’s a perfect walk-forward fighter against a perfect long-distance-footwork fighter,” Opetaia told Sky Sports.
“I’m leaning a bit towards Bivol because I’m more boxing, cutting angles, I like that boxing more than that frontfoot sort of style. But it isn’t going to be an easy fight.
“The loser is going to be the one that makes the most mistakes. I believe they both have the tools to beat each other but whoever slips up the most or makes the second wrong mistake, is going to pay the price.
“These are the top fighters, if you make a mistake you’re going to pay the consequences.”
There is a formula then. Don’t put a foot or a punch wrong. Just be perfect for 12 rounds. No one’s done that yet against Beterbiev.
But Dmitry Bivol might just be the one light-heavyweight who can.
Fabio Wardley’s huge rematch with Frazer Clarke is on the epic Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol bill on Saturday October 12 live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book Wardley v Clarke 2 and Beterbiev v Bivol now!
