David Benavidez insists former WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol deserved to win his fight against IBF/WBC/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev on October 12 last year in Riyadh.
Bivol excelled
Benavidez, the WBC “interim” 175-pound champion, says Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) threw the best combinations and controlled most of the fight. He feels that if Bivol, 34, fights the same way he did last time, he will defeat undisputed champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 knockouts) in a rematch on February 22 in Riyadh. Their fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV.
Some believe the reason Benavidez picked Bivol to win the rematch is because he wants to be victorious because he may lack the confidence needed to defeat Beterbiev, who is a strong player. “The Mexican Monster” Benavidez's fighting style involves putting every ounce of energy into every punch he lands to get maximum power into his shots.
David is not a big puncher, so he is condensing everything he throws to improve his power. This style wouldn't work against Beterbiev because he throws short punches with tremendous power and, unlike Benavidez, doesn't need to hit to generate his power.
If Benavidez fights Artur, it will be a miserable night. He couldn't load his shots because he was flagged. Furthermore, David's quick combination punches would leave him vulnerable to being tackled and knocked out by Beterbiev.
Although Benavidez hits good shots due to his thick skull, which has a slight acromegaly-like appearance, his ability to land shots to the body is not as good. He could get hurt out there. In the twelfth round, Oleksandr Gvozdyk landed a hard right hand to Benavidez's midsection, halting his entire offense for the rest of the round.
He did not throw a single punch after being injured in the body by Gvozdyk in the final round. Beterbiev is a better body puncher than Gvozdyk, and he must have seen that weakness and focused on that area instead of wasting punches on Benavidez's thick skull.
Return match predictions
“I thought Bivol won that fight. It was a close fight,” David Benavidez told Mediatalks about Artur Beterbiev’s fight against Dmitry Bivol on October 12 of last year in Riyadh.
“I feel like Bivol won most of the rounds. He was in control most of the rounds, and his combination punches were better,” Benavidez continued. “I think he (Bivol) does (win the rematch on February 22).
“Both of these fighters are high-caliber fighters. So they can make adjustments. I don’t know if it will be the same fight or not, but if it is the same fight, I feel Bivol will win.
