Dmitry Bivol completed the first Arthur

The grandiose boxing show held by Saudi Arabia has seriously influenced the agenda for the next year, 2024. It brought the fight for the title of absolute world champion in the light heavyweight (up to 79.4 kg) between two outstanding Russian fighters – Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev – very close thanks to a very convincing and striking victory won by Bivol, who defended the World Boxing Association (WBA) title, over the British Lyndon Arthur. But this evening unexpectedly disrupted the match for the status of a contender for the title of absolute heavyweight champion with the participation of two celebrities – compatriot Arthur Anthony Joshua and American Deontay Wilder – due to the latter’s sudden loss to New Zealander Joseph Parker.

Immediately after the end of the fight in Riyadh, Dmitry Bivol, who had just added a 22nd victory in a row to his impeccable record, called it “good sparring.” The word “sparring” slightly hurt my ears. In the end, it was about the official defense of the World Boxing Association champion title in a show that thundered throughout the world, containing a bunch of notable events, in front of a whole squad of celebrities like Cristiano Ronaldo, seated in VIP seats, in a fight against an opponent, maybe , and without a rich background, but still seemed quite dangerous. However, everything is clear.

There was no escape from the fact that this match was perceived as sparring. At the end of 2022, which saw resounding victories against Mexican superstars Saul Alvarez and Gilberto Ramirez, Dmitry Bivol was recognized as the best boxer, regardless of weight category, by all respected media resources. The logical development of his career should have been a fight with Artur Beterbiev, who owns the belts of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO), for the title of absolute world champion. Bivol has repeatedly said that he is a priority for him, but the confrontation did not coalesce. It seems, for reasons including political ones. Now, judging by the fact that the fight between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, doomed to cause colossal excitement, is confidently discussed as something inevitable, for example, the powerful promoter Eddie Hearn, who, apparently, has already agreed on it with the same generous Saudi investors, and ESPN confidently predicts that it will take place either in mid-2024, or in the worst case, a little later (Beterbiev, however, also needs to defend his belts soon – on January 13 he meets with another British boxer Callum Smith), everything is coming together. So, yes, this performance looked like a warm-up, a “warm-up” for the truly significant future.

The main thing is that Dmitry Bivol kept his promise and did not treat the fight in Saudi Arabia – his only, as it turned out, fight in 2023 – as a “warm-up” fight. On the contrary, he considered it necessary to conduct it as concentratedly as possible and demonstrate his great advantages in all its glory. This is amazing footwork, and a simply animal sense of distance, and the ability to work not with individual blows, but with short and long series. And very cunning ones – the kind when an opponent who has already covered his head suddenly gets hit in the body and vice versa.

Lyndon Arthur, however, also delighted me with something. In fact, he found himself in a difficult, almost critical situation already in the second round and, in fact, never left it. The segments when the Briton in the ring had the opportunity to catch his breath and think about how to attack himself lasted no more than 10–15 seconds. The rest of the time, the champion forced him to think not even about defense, but about survival. Every time Bivol unleashed another cannonade of blows on the enemy, it looked almost like a mortal threat to the challenger.

But, suffering, Arthur somehow held on. And in the eighth round he even snapped back, reminding him that in fact, in his previous fights, against simpler opponents, he often caused them colossal problems by suddenly shooting towards them from the right. Although the Briton’s outburst ultimately only wound up Bivol, who already seemed to enjoy fighting in a slightly monotonous manner.

Lyndon Arthur’s suffering reached its climax at the end of the 11th round. The headwash from Dmitry Bivol, already too hard, sat him down on the floor. However, the bell sounded immediately after Arthur’s fall, and during the break, as it turned out, he overcame the knockdown and managed to endure the final round, even though all three referees, of course, recorded a colossal (the score on the cards was the same – 120:107) advantage of Dmitry Bivol.

The show in Riyadh was capped by two fights between extremely popular heavyweights – Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, which, in theory, should also have served as something of a “warm-up” for them before a much more important confrontation. It’s about confronting each other.

In February, as is known, the Briton Tyson Fury, who is putting the WBC belt on the line, and the owner of the other three, Ukrainian Alexander Usik, will fight for the title of absolute world champion. So, in December, having lost to them earlier, having lost their titles, Joshua and Wilder agreed that they would hold a contender’s fight in 2024. That is, its winner will then meet the winner of the match between Fury and Usyk.

And this already worked out, correct, even recorded on paper scenario went to waste because of what happened in Riyadh. Anthony Joshua did his job flawlessly. The Briton fought with the strongest Swede Otto Wallin and was so charged that by the end of the fifth round he turned his opponent’s face into a bloody mess. Wallin’s condition was poor, and his corner refused to continue.

Deontay Wilder failed. Those experts who described his fight against the experienced New Zealander Joseph Parker were tempted to use some biting comparisons, for example, to say that Wilder boxed as if he had just emerged from a lethargic sleep. Or maybe it hasn’t come out yet.

He was indeed fantastically passive, completely forgetting how much power was concentrated in his right fist. Parker had no problem scoring points and achieved success in a fairly routine manner. 118-111, 118-110 and 120-108 in his favor – so incredible, given the situation, was the score on the judges’ cards in his favor, forcing analysts to wonder how the discarded scenario with a contender’s battle between Joshua and Wilder would be adjusted. ESPN is inclined to believe that the beneficiary of the American’s collapse is the Croatian Filip Hrgovic, the number one in the IBF rankings, who dealt with compatriot Marc de Mori in Riyadh. It is he who will have to replace Wilder and fight Joshua.

Alexey Dospehov