Peter Klein previews the massive clash between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship. Both fighters bring elite skills to the ring, but who will come out on top? Peter breaks down the fight, sharing why he thinks Bivol's technique will give him the edge in this highly anticipated matchup. Tune in for the full analysis and fight prediction!
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00:00One of the big fights of the year happens this weekend in Saudi Arabia as
00:16Artur Beterbiev, he of the WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight championships
00:23taking on WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in a long-awaited fight to
00:30unify and make the light heavyweight champion undisputed. So let's break it
00:37down. This is going to be an excellent fight. Neither fighter has lost in their
00:43career. There is very little separating them and I think when you see the
00:48mauling power style that is Beterbiev and the technical prowess of Bivol it is
00:56very tempting to just say oh this is just puncher versus fighter puncher
01:00versus boxer let's see how this kind of plays out and on the surface it kind of
01:05is that but I do think that Bivol has maybe a little bit more power than he
01:09gets credit for and I do think that Beterbiev has significantly more
01:13technique than he gets credit for and that's where this fight gets very
01:16interesting to me is that like on the one hand you have Beterbiev who is just
01:24this guy with dynamite in his hands and this unbelievable knockout artist and on
01:30the other hand you have the technical proficiency of Bivol who was able to
01:34outpoint Canelo Alvarez on way on route to the biggest fight and win of his
01:40career but at the same time you have Bivol who like I said has like he
01:46doesn't have a string of knockouts he only has a few but he does have power in
01:49his hands that just comes from being that size and on the other hand you have
01:54Beterbiev who is a little bit more technical and other than people give him
01:58credit for and can kind of fight that style as well and I think it is going to
02:02be the thing that I think plays out in this fight is who ends up having their
02:08plan B be the best one and so that is why I keep going back and forth on this
02:13one because I think the plan B for Beterbiev is a little bit better than
02:17the plan B for Bivol I do think that if it just comes down to their like plan A's
02:22I guess I do think that Bivol can outclass, outclass sounds so dismissive
02:29but can just be a step ahead technically of Beterbiev and avoid all of those
02:34things at the same time I do think that if it does turn into a technical fight
02:39that Beterbiev can actually kind of hold his own a little bit but then if we get
02:43into the knockout brawling stage of this Beterbiev can handle that aspect of it a
02:48whole lot better than Bivol can obviously that gets into the strength
02:52and so I think if it gets more technical Beterbiev has a better handle on that
02:57than if it turns into a brawl for Bivol if that makes sense I don't know if I
03:00explain that very well but that's kind of where a lot of my thought process has
03:03been this week and the other thing that has always concerned me about fights
03:06like this is yes Bivol is technically superior I think the issue a that
03:12doesn't just cancel out all the technique that Beterbiev has but also if
03:16you are going to fight that way you have to be perfect for 12 rounds and that is
03:20so hard to do when you have the pressure and the power of Beterbiev coming at you
03:26so it is a it is a so so much an intriguing fight at the end of the day I
03:32have come down on the side of technique I just think that Bivol is just that
03:38step ahead more when it comes to the technical acumen of the sport and I
03:42think that is going to win out this is not going to I think like minus 140 is
03:48the number for Beterbiev or for Bivol sorry I think this is that close of a
03:52fight I think that this is going to be right down to the wire but I think when
03:56it comes down to being able to win rounds and doing those sorts of things I
04:00think Bivol is going to be the one to get this done so I think Bivol gets the
04:04win and I do think he wins by decision yeah Deeds the winner faces Beterbiev
04:10yeah that's the way Deeds in the chat for those who are watching or listening
04:15watching later or listening yeah Beterbiev might be might need a couple
04:20more fights to get into contention for these guys but he's had quite the run
04:26like not obviously not fighting recently but just like the turnaround with his
04:31health and all that stuff a DDP yoga kind of inspirational story and whatnot
04:37but yeah no I think this fight coming up this weekend is going to be just so
04:42incredibly fun and I like I am hammering it down I have to I'm making the pick
04:48now I'm making it official I refuse to let myself waffle back and forth at any
04:52other point but this is going to be a very intriguing bout coming up this
04:57weekend