Boxing Promoter Eddie Hearn Slams ‘Sickening’ Decision in Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol Fight
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn was flabbergasted by the scoring in Saturday night’s undisputed light heavyweight title clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Over the weekend, Beterbiev and Bivol went toe-to-toe in one of the most anticipated boxing matches of the last decade. Luckily for fight fans, the bout lived up to the hype with both fighters slinging leather for much of the 12-round affair.
However, many were left frustrated by what is being called another controversial decision in the sport.
Judges scored the fight 114-114, 115-113, and 116-112 in favor of Beterbiev, crowning him the undisputed light heavyweight champion while simultaneously handing Bivol the first loss of his illustrious career.
Speaking on the disputable decision immediately following the fight, Hearn vented his frustration over Beterbiev being handed the win.
“I don’t want to disrespect Beterbiev, because they’re both incredible fighters, but I find it sickening that, after a lifetime of hard work, Bivol is not undisputed champion tonight. He won that fight,” Hearn said during the post-fight press conference. “I struggle to find anybody in our row; a row behind, the TV row, who didn’t score the fight to Bivol. To find a judge give that fight 116-112, and give Dmitry Bivol four rounds in that fight; this judge should never work in the sport again.
“Everything you’ll get out of Dmitry is: ‘I can do better; it’s boxing. I take the judges’ scorecard’, but I don’t buy it because you don’t deserve that after that performance. It was an absolute boxing masterclass. It was the perfect performance. He can be better, but that was a pure show of concentration, skill, and defense, with offense thrown in. Bivol is arguably pound-for-pound No. 1 in the sport. He deserves tonight to sit here as the undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the world” (h/t BJPenn.com).
Status Reveal Just How Close the Beterbiev vs. Bivol Boxing Bout Truly Was
According to the official stats from Compubox, Beterbiev and Bivol were separated by four or fewer punches in eight out of the 12 rounds while Bivol out-landed Beterbiev by just five punches over the distance. Bivol connected with more jabs, landing 58 to Beterbiev’s 47, but Beterbiev connected on 14 more power punches with the totals being 90 to 84.
Beterbiev landed more shots in six rounds while Bivol won the numbers game in five of them. Both fighters landed nine punches apiece in the sixth round.
Whether you land on the side of Beterbiev or Bivol, most seem to agree that the 116-112 scorecard turned in by Pawel Kardyni was far too wide considering the close nature of the scrap.
With the fight being as tight as it was and the decision being highly debatable, do we see Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 in 2025?
