- Dmitry Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn was livid about how one judge scored the fight in favor of Artur Beterbiev
- Teddy Atlas beleived Beterbiev did enough to convince the judges
Eddie Hearn lashed out at one judge for giving Artur Beterbieiv the nod over Dmitry Bivol but Teddy Atlas thinks there’s nobody to blame.
Eddie hit out at a judge
Speaking to the media following Bivol’s majority decision loss to Beterbiev, Hearn blasted Polish judge Pawel Kardyni for scoring 116-112 in favor of the Canadian knockout artist. For Hearn, that judge should never be called up to do big fights again, let alone an undisputed title fight like Bivol vs. Beterbiev.
“We saw one of the greatest fights and examples of our sport. We saw a guy that had never gone the distance before, the biggest monster in the sport and we saw one of the purest boxers, one of the most skillful fighters I’ve ever seen and I don’t want to disrespect Artur Beterbiev, because he’s an incredible fighter. But I find it sickening that after a lifetime of hard work, Dmitry Bivol is not the undisputed champion. He won that fight. I struggled to find anyone 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,” Hearn exclaimed.
“It has to be a rematch because Artur Beterbiev… there’s always going to be the controversy of that fight and he’s a true champion, what other fight is there for Artur Beterbiev, I mean you know the whole world will want to see that again,” he added.
Watch Hearn’s full presser below:
Teddy had Beterbiev winning
Contrary to what Hearn insists, Atlas believed that though it was a close fight, Beterbiev managed to outperform Bivol in the latter rounds. Moreover, the veteran boxing coach and analyst pointed out that Beterbiev was able to dictate the fight which helped convince the judges that he was in control.
“Close fight. Lot of close rounds. I can see why [people] are conflicted. You know what, I’m not gonna judge anyone. I judged the fight, but I won’t judge anyone because I get it’s subjective in certain ways. I can see there’s two ways to look at it, two fighters, close fight, a lot of close rounds. I had it 115-113 Beterbiev, because I thought he won the championship rounds,” Atlas said.
“I thought it was a really, really tight fight. I thought that, as I often do, a fight like this comes down to geography. Who gets to own the geography, the place in the ring, that suits their talents, strengths better than the other guy. Who gets to own that space, that real estate if you will, more than the other guy. In the end, I thought very close and slight that Beterbiev did,” he noted.
“The old timers would say this, make him fight your fight. I thought in the end that he got Bivol, a game, gallant warrior like they both were, to fight his fight. And how’d he do it? He did it with pressure all night,” he added.
Watch Teddy’s full interview below:
Beterbiev’s win over Bivol saw him becoming the undisputed light heavyweight champion. He now holds the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO and WBC belts. He also improved his unbeaten record to 21-0 though it was the first time he failed to finish his opponent. On the other hand, Bivol suffered the first defeat of his professional boxing career.
