Artur Beterbiev defeated Dmitry Bivol by majority decision to unify boxing’s light heavyweight titles. The judges scored the contest, 115-113 and 116-112 for the Russian-Canadian fighter with one judge scoring it a draw at 114-114.
Saturday’s main event from Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was perhaps the best matchup available to make in the sport and the pair delivered a high-level, back-and-forth, 12-round contest.
Beterbiev was 20-0 with 20 knockouts entering the bout and held three of boxing’s championship belts (IBF, WBC and WBO) in the 175-pound division. The 39-year-old is now 21-0 after picking up his first decision victory as a pro.
Bivol, 33, was 23-0 and the WBA champion prior to facing Beterbiev. Bivol’s biggest fight prior to Saturday was his 2022 victory over Canelo Alvarez.
Since the fight was so closely contested, it is possible a rematch may be scheduled.
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