By Norm Frauenheim
Power and perfection define Artur Beterbiev. Truth is, that’s about all we really know about him. The two elements are linked like numbers in an astonishingly simple equation, a record that says a lot about him and perhaps says everything he wants to say about himself.
Twenty fights, twenty victories, twenty knockouts.
Challenge that one at your own peril. Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) will, of course, Saturday (main event, DAZN/ESPN+, 6 pm ET) in Saudi Arabia in a light-heavyweight fight as significant as any in the division since the first Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev bout eight years ago.
Yet, Ward-Kovalev 1, marketed as Pound For Pound, was different on so many other levels. Mostly, there was personal enmity, even before Ward won a hotly-debated decision — 114-113 on all three cards — over Kovalev in November 2016.
It was as controversial as any over the last decade. But the controversy was fitting. Ward and Kovalev didn’t like each other. Actually, like is a polite way of describing it. But it is a four-letter word.
The hostility, marked by equal amounts of contempt and abundant suspicion, helped make the fight marketable. Seven months later, it also spawned a rematch, which ended with Ward winning an eighth-round TKO in a sequel as forgettable as the first was memorable.
On the insult scale, Beterbiev-Bivol isn’t even close, although Bivol promoter Eddie Hearn tried to change that this week. First, Hearn insulted Beterbiev, calling him “arrogant.’’
At an earlier newser, Hearn told TNT Sports, “Beterbiev said about three words, I found it quite arrogant.”
Beterbiev, Hearn then added, limited his answers to the media to about one word.
“I think he just went ‘good,’ ‘’ Hearn said. “You’re getting paid an absolute fortune, the entire world’s media here, you owe us a little bit more than that. He couldn’t care less. In a way I respect it, but in a way, I think it’s a little disrespectful.”
At the final newser Thursday in Riyadh, Hearn continued the theme, all in an apparent attempt to break through Beterbiev’s taciturn defense.
For a moment, it looked as if Hearn was getting through.
Beterbiev looked at Hearn and said during the live-streamed newser:
“You talk a lot.”
Hearn’s quick counter:
“It’s my job. You should try it.”
End of conversation.
It wasn’t surprising. Statues are more quotable than Beterbiev. But we knew that. He’s memorable more for how he fights than anything he’s ever said. But here’s another number: 39. He’s within four months of turning 40. That includes recent injuries. A knee injury forced Beterbiev to postpone the original date with Bivol, June 1.
He’s beyond prime time, and time might be the only thing that can undo his reign of perfection. He’s the favorite to leave Riyadh with the undisputed light-heavyweight title. Then, it’s back to Montreal and quiet anonymity.
However, there’s a sense that Father Time’s arrival at Beterbiev’s doorstep will come in the form of the 33-year-old Bivol, a fellow Russian who is given a real chance at an upset in a fight noteworthy for how it sets up the 175-pound division.
It was announced this week that David Benavidez, a Phoenix-born fighter, and David Morrell, a Cuban living in Minnesota, have agreed to fight. When and where, however, aren’t certain. January 25 or a date in February are mentioned. But time and place are subject to what happens in Riyadh.
Benavidez holds an interim belt at 175 pounds, which makes him a mandatory challenger — whatever that means — for the Beterbiev-Bivol winner. Benavidez would have to beat Morrell to keep his place in line.
Then again, Canelo Alvarez could always cut in line. Canelo, who Benavidez has been been pursuing for years, began talking about Bivol in September, before and after his one-sided decision over Edgar Berlanga in a solid defense of the undisputed title at 168 pounds. Bivol beat Canelo a couple of years ago.
The potential scenarios provide several talking points for what Beterbiev-Bivol means. One Example: Beterbiev, still aggressive and powerful at 39, beats Bivol with a stoppage, another notch in his perfect record. Then, Benavidez beats Morrell with his trademark energy and volume punching. Next, Beterbiev-Benavidez, a fight with the kind of fireworks that could ignite a classic. It would be an instant talker, which for now Beterbiev-Bivol is not.
Even Bivol, a pragmatic and patient tactician, is careful not to speculate about anything beyond Saturday. Beterbiev, of all people, spoke for both of them Thursday.
“It’s not my business,’’ he said when asked for his thoughts about possibilities beyond Bivol. “I have a fight this Saturday. I’m only focused on this fight.”
A fight that’s bound to generate lots of talk, no matter what anybody says.
Or doesn’t say.
