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Mike CoppingerESPN
NEW YORK – Artur Beterbiev is yet to see his match, and Saturday at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden was no different.
Joe Smith Jr entered the ring with the advantage of size, strength, and an extremely strong right arm, but that didn’t matter. Beterbiev is too precise, his punches are too damaging.
His underrated ring IQ allows him to land some of the sport’s most accurate punches, resulting in three kills and a TKO win in the second round for Beterbiev. He won his third lightweight title to cement himself as one of only two 175-pound athletes in the world.
The other, of course, is his Russian colleague Dmitry Bivol, who upset Canelo Alvarezformer boxing champion, in May to retain his light heavyweight belt.
A summit between Beterbiev and Bivol would not only claim the undisputed light heavyweight title but also represent one of the best fights boxing can bring.
Of course, this is boxing, that fight is not happening right in front of you. Instead, Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) was lined up to defend his three titles against England’s Anthony Yarde, the WBO’s mandatory opponent. No deal has been struck, but the fight is being scheduled for October 29 in London, sources told ESPN.
“I have two united wars,” says Beterbiev. “I prefer the unification fight. I want to be free from controversy.”
Of course, that match will have to wait. Yarde, the leader, seems to be next. And like Beterbiev, Yarde is a dangerous puncher who proved in his single title shot that he belongs on this stage.
Yarde came in with a punch or two to get rid of Sergey Kovalev when they met for the light heavyweight title in 2019. Kovalev instead stopped Yarde in the latter round. Yarde had to go to Russia for that bout, but this time, he’ll be fighting at home against another big Russian boxer in Beterbiev.
“That [Kovalev fight] prepared me a lot, especially going to Russia,” Yarde, the main catch, told ESPN on Saturday. You couldn’t have been better prepared than that. I was younger then mentally and physically. … I think I’ve come a long way with experience and I’m a lot better prepared mentally. “
While the Betterbiev-Yarde is a gripping action battle – and a major UK event – it’s certainly not the fight we all want to see at 175 pounds. That match is still Beterbiev-Bivol for all marbles at 175 pounds.
Bivol and Beterbiev were in talks to unify the light heavyweight title this spring in St.Petersburg before the former beat Alvarez. Now, the undisputed title match may have to wait until at least the first half of next year, and possibly even longer.
Alvarez decided to aim for a third matchup against Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17 instead of making the rematch provision for a second match against Bivol. However, it remains possible that Canelo will pursue an encounter with Cinco De Mayo over the weekend of 2023, which will spur an undisputed title war with Beterbiev until at least the fall of next year. after.
Beterbiev will turn 38 next January and is still looking for a real big match to match his immense talent. He tops the weight balance list and is the only boxing champion with a 100% KO record.
He showed again on Saturday that he is one of the best boxers in the world. A fight with Yarde would provide another chance for Beterbiev to deliver a jaw-dropping performance in a slugfest, but it’s not the fight that Beterbiev – or boxing fans – wants. And Betterbiev deserves it before it’s too late.
