Dmitry Bivol hopes to avenge his loss this Saturday when he challenges Artur Beterbiev for his undisputed light heavyweight championship in their rematch on February 22nd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

Fans believe there shouldn’t be a rematch because Bivol showed that he didn’t have the heart to fight in his loss to Beterbiev on October 12th. A rematch is pointless and only gives Dmitry a second payday. The fans will see the same dull fight, with Bivol looking like a wolf chasing him for 12 rounds.

Bivol’s Inflexibility

Without a different mindset, I don’t see Bivol being capable of showing the bravery needed for him to defeat Beterbiev. He’s got the physical tools to win, but everything else is missing. That’s what’s going to keep Bivol from winning on Saturday. If Bivol can stay in the pocket, he can win. I don’t see it happening.

What their previous fight showed last October is that Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) must show some bravery under fire, not run and hold when he’s put under pressure by Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs). It looked so obvious to anyone watching that Bivol, 34, lacked the mental fire to win and was looking to be gifted by the judges with a cheap win.

Bivol is set in his ways, inflexible, and resistant to change. He’s ALWAYS fought defensively throughout his professional and amateur career, and he won’t change for the rematch on Saturday night. He’s a typical person that cannot change.

During interviews, Beterbiev sounded like a determined fighter who planned to attack Bivol from the jump to force him to fight or run, which would probably be the latter. Unless the judges value Bivol’s timid lack of engagement, they’ll give Beterbiev the win, which will close this ugly chapter.

Turki Al-Sheikh should have placed the Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov undercard fight as the main event and moved the Beterbiev-Bivol 2 rematch below two or three places. It’s not nearly as exciting a fight as the Ortiz Jr-Madrimov matchup for the average fans, and that’s not Beterbiev’s fault. Bivol is the problem.

“As an athlete, all athletes don’t like to lose. They want revenge, always when they lose. They want to find what they did wrong. I want to find what I did wrong and I want to fix it,” said Dmitry Bivol to DAZN Boxing, talking about his focus on fixing the mistakes from his previous defeat against Artur Beterbiev on October 12th last year.

“I really believe he understands what needs to be done, what that little extra part that was missing. He’s trying to add that on in this camp so that this time there’s no questions,” said Bivol’s manager, Vadim Kornilov.

Out for revenge next Saturday 😤

Watch DAZN On the Ground: Episode 8️⃣ with @bivol_d now via the link in our bio 🎥 #BeterbievBivol2 | #RiyadhSeason | Feb 22, live on DAZN: Click link in bio to buy | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/6oONKUWb5B

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) February 13, 2025