There is a massive fight card taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this weekend. The main card starts on Saturday night the 22nd of February South African time with the Main Event between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol scheduled for a 1am start on the morning of Sunday the 23rd.
We look at this fight as well as s supporting bout on the main card from a betting angle.
Click here for betting on the full fight card.
ARTUR BETERBIEV vs DMITRY BIVOL 2
Light Heavyweight Title Fight – Main Event:
Artur Beterbiev is a fighter born in Russia who possesses immense stopping power. Throughout his professional career he has fought 21 times, winning all of these fights with 20 of them via KO.
He currently holds the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight titles and he has fought amongst the top echelon for a number of years after winning his first title in 2017 when he took the IBF title from Enrico Koelling by round 12 KO.
The last time he stepped in the ring was against Bivol in their first fight held in October last year, this was the first time an opponent had ever gone the distance with Beterbiev but despite that he won by majority decision to pick up the WBA title.
Dmitry Bivol is a talented boxer from Russia who has had a successful career since his professional debut in 2014. He has fought a total of 24 bouts, winning 23 and losing just 1, with 12 of his wins coming via KO.
The fact he has gone the distance multiple times indicates he has incredible stamina and can take a lot of punushment. He proved he is one of the greats over the past 7 or so years after winning the WBA title in 2017 and defending it for 11 fights in a row.
The last time he fought was against Beterbiev in October and although the fight was close, he was on the wrong end of the decision and had to give up his title. There is no doubt he comes into this fight fired up to take it back.
BETTING – click here to bet
Beterbiev 1.83
Bivol 2.05
PREDICTION:
The last fight was almost too close to call and critically Bivol will know he can go the distance with his hard hitting opponent and will be hunting for revenge. I am betting that this fight goes the distance but that this time it is Bivol who will get the nod from the judges.
DANIEL DUBOIS vs JOSEPH PARKER – This fight is sadly off as Dubois is sick
SHAKUR STEVENSON vs JOSH PADLEY
WBC Lightweight Title Fight:
Shakur Stevenson is a young American fighter who’s career spans from 2017. He currently holds a perfect record of 22-0 with 10 of his victories by KO.
Throughout his career he has held onto various junior lightweight titles and in his last fight against Edwin De Los Santos in November 2023 he picked up the vacant WBC lightweight title.
Josh Padley is a fighter from the United Kingdom who has been called upon on short notice to step in the ring for this title fight after Floyd Schofield pulled out.
He is on a professional record of 15 fights with all of them going his way and he has stopped 4 of his opponents. His most recent meeting was with Mark Chamberlain a few months ago where he won via decision.
BETTING – click here to bet
Stevenson 1.03
Padley 10.00
PREDICTION:
I think that Stevenson has everything in his favour to win this fight and with Padley stepping in on late notice he will stop him early on by KO in round 3.
SUGGESTED BETS:
Beterbiev vs Bivol
Round Betting, Bivol by decision or Technical Decision at 2.50
Stevenson vs Padley
Total round under 8.5 at 1.83
Note: All prices correct at time of writing but subject to change.
