From Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a fight that many thought may never happen finally will as light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev (WBC, IBF, WBO) and Dmitry Bivol (WBA) clash on ESPN+.
The last unification fight that had been this awaited and was thought to be a pick 'em fight, was last summer's welterweight unification between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence and while that one was one-sided in the ring, I don't think this one will be.
Bivol is currently the favorite by the slimmest of margins but it's very even in the eyes of most observers.
Bivol is considered the more rounded of the two and owns the best victory with his decision victory over Canelo Alvarez while Beterbiev is the feared puncher who has won every fight by knockout and has unified three of the four titles.
I can imagine Bivol outboxing Beterbiev over twelve frustrating rounds and I can imagine Bivol building a lead and Beterbiev grinding forward and breaking Bivol down in a late-round knockout.
Two things that could decide this fight that aren't getting attention.
One- Beterbiev was a decorated amateur with an Olympic background, he's not a crude bomber and is a much better boxer than people think.
Two- I remember Bivol wobbling badly late in his fight against Joe Smith.
Smith is an excellent puncher but he's no Beterbiev, I think Beterbiec eventually gets to Bivol and takes him out - but I wouldn't bet on it!
The undercard consists of a world title, a rematch of a terrific fight earlier this year, and a squash match.
The co-feature is the worst of the three on paper as Chris Eubank Jr faces Kamil Szeremeta in a twelve-round middleweight pairing.
Eubank Jr. last fought in September 2023 when he avenged his loss to Liam Smith with a tenth-round knockout, while Szeremeta has five wins and a draw against non-entities since his back-to-back losses to Gennady Golovkin and Jaime Munguia.
The anticipated match on the undercard is the rematch between unbeaten British heavyweights Fabio Wardley and Fraser Clarke of their dynamic war that ended in a draw in March.
If the rematch is even close to the action of their first battle, we will have a great fight!
I thought Wardley won the first fight but Clarke is capable of reversing that on Saturday.
The world title fight will feature the best cruiserweight in the world defending his title as Jai Opetaia defends against Jack Massey.
Opetaia defended his title in May against the fighter he won the title from, Mairis Bredis, by unanimous decision, while Massey earned the title chance with a mild upset over Isaac Chamberlain in June.
Saturday's fight from Nagoya Japan will match Sivenathi Nontshinga against Masamichi Yabuki for Nontshinga's IBF light flyweight title.
Nontshinga regained the title in February from Adrian Curiel, stopping him in round ten.
Yabuki holds the only win over the sensational Kenshiro Teraji, defeating Teraji for the WBC title via tenth-round KO in 2021 before Teraji crushed him in three rounds in the rematch.
Yabuki has won his three fights since the Teraji loss, so he's rebounded well from the defeat.
I hope to do a preview of the Sunday and Monday cards from Tokyo but with Beterbiev-Bivol, Ohio State-Oregon, and Browns-Eagles, that may be a just the facts prediction post.
Boxing Challenge
TRS: Beterbiev KO 10
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