Boxing

Artur Beterbiev Breaks Silence On Dmitry Bivol Loss With Clear Message

Artur Beterbiev got honest about his loss to Dmity Bivol during Riyadh Season's 'The Last Crescendo' card.
Grant Young|
Russian boxer Artur Beterbiev and German boxer Adam Deines fight on March 20, 2021.
Russian boxer Artur Beterbiev and German boxer Adam Deines fight on March 20, 2021. | IMAGO / Russian Look

The highly anticipated 'The Last Crescendo' February 22 boxing card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia delivered in many ways.

The card seemed snakebitten in the week leading up to it, as two fighters on the top three fights on the card (Daniel Dubois and Floyd Schofield) both had to withdraw due to injury. However, the most intriguing and important fight on the card — the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed light heavyweight championship and Beterbiev's WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring belts — remained intact.

And this massive rematch of a classic bout in October 2024 was arguably even better and closer than the first fight. Ultimately, Bivol exacted revenge on Beterbiev, winning the fight by majority decision (114-114, 116-112, 115-113).

Beterbiev's immediate reaction to the scorecards made it seem like he believed he had done enough to earn the victory on Saturday. And as Bivol was given the microphone to speak in the ring, Beterbiev could be seen holding up three fingers to him, as if to indicate his desire for a trilogy fight between them.

Beterbiev didn't speak out about the fight until when he made an Instagram post on February 23 that wrote, "It was a good fight with a strong opponent. I thank everyone who supported me all the way. But sport is sport. We will definitely come back even stronger.

"God’s plans are always better than ours. Alhamdulillah for everything 🤲🏻"

One would have to imagine that a third fight is in store between Beterbiev and Bivol so the boxing world can see who truly reigns supreme.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.