Beterbiev-Bivol Was Nothing But Bad News For David Benavidez

Hear that drumbeat sound? Is that the sound of the drums beating for an Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol rematch or is it the sound of David Benavidez pounding his head against the wall in frustration over being frozen out of another blockbuster fight in a second weight class?

On Saturday, Beterbiev was given a dubious decision victory over Bivol in the much-anticipated light heavyweight title unification clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia by scores of 114-114, 115-113, and the head-scratching 116-112.

Despite some fans and media being talked into believing that the fight was “fantastic” and had lived up to the high expectations, the truth of the matter is that it was highly anticlimactic with long periods of nothing happening until the championship rounds (which, also, weren’t all that scintillating).

But Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh, apparently thinks otherwise.

“This was one of the great fights of the last 20 years I think, but I don’t think the result was fair, in my opinion,” Alalshikh told UK reporter Charlie Parsons. “The two fighters are like my brothers, but I think Bivol won two rounds more. I will focus and I will try to do the rematch. If they accept, we will do it.”

And what Turki wants, Turki gets– at least among those willing to grab at his filthy lucre.

Some will (rightfully) roll their eyes at the idea of a part 2 after a part 1 that disappointed, but that shitty 116-112 scorecard from judge Pawel Kardyni opened the door for a plausible protest to be made to justify a return engagement.

“We’re going to file a protest on Monday. I think the judge has to at least have some kind of responsibility for what he did,” Bivol’s manager, Vadim Kornilov, told BoxNation.

Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, agrees that he should get another Beterbiev-Bivol payday and was also onboard with using Pawel Kardyni as the justification.

“Dmitry Bivol should be undisputed champion,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “He deserves it. It was a boxing masterclass.

“You don’t deserve to work your whole life to get to that moment, perform like that and get it taken away.

“To give Dmitry Bivol four rounds of that 12-round fight – that judge should never work again.”

Not that Turki needs any justification to do what he wants on the Saudi dime, but this scoring controversy and the false “hey, this was a good fight” narrative being wedged into the public discourse are enough to bring about the Beterbiev-Bivol sequel.

And this, of course, is bad news for David Benavidez.

Benavidez is set to be facing David Morrell this January. The hope for Team Benavidez was to then have their fighter jump into a shot at the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol.

This grab at a blockbuster fight against a unified champion was, ostensibly, the entire reason he moved up to light heavyweight in the first place, after being denied a title shot for years by unified super middleweight champ Saul Alvarez.

But if Benavidez gets by Morrell early next year, he may be frozen out of the title picture once again.

If the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch happens, it could take place, at the earliest, somewhere in mid-2025. But this is assuming that the oft-injured Beterbiev can make the date without postponement. If Bivol wins the rematch, then it’s probably safe to assume that a rubber match would be signed.

If everything plays out as it’s being lined up and no injuries pop up, the winner of this light heavyweight championship rivalry wouldn’t be free and clear to fight someone else until late 2025, at the earliest, or mid-2026, at the latest.

That puts a lot of time and distance between Benavidez and his possible shot at the winner.

It’s also possible that the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) fighter might end up being frozen out of the picture by Alalshikh who has yet to sign a “partnership” deal with PBC, as he’s done with other boxing outfits such as Golden Boy, Top Rank, Matchroom, and Queensberry.

Benavidez, himself, has already been approached by Alalshikh, with the ridiculous idea of moving down to 160 to fight Terence Crawford. Being rebuffed for that silly notion may not have sat too well with His Turkiness, thereby potentially throwing another obstacle in Benavidez’s path to Beterbiev or Bivol, who both fight, apparently, at Alalshikh’s discretion.

So, nothing that happened in the aftermath of Saturday’s 175 lb. unification bout was good news for Benavidez.

But what can an avoided guy do, except focus on the fight ahead and hope for some degree of fair play to nudge him towards what he deserves?