Eddie Hearn Salty For Bivol’s Beterbiev Loss, He Wants The Judge Not To Work Again

Dmitry Bivol’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, sounded like a classic example of a sore loser after his 12-round decision loss to joint light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev last Saturday night in Riyadh. He had trouble understanding what happened to his fighter Bivol, who collapsed under pressure from Beterbiev who hit hard in their match.

Matchroom manager Hearn was reflecting on Bivol’s 8-4 victory and was shocked to see him lose. It seemed obvious what had happened. When Bivol began to be hit hard by Beterbiev in the seventh, he gave up the fight and ran the last five rounds in defeat. Bivol was shocked and depressed.

Any judge could see that Bivol had given up hope. Instead of Hearn complaining about the judge scoring it 116-112, he praised him because he did a great job scoring it.

Beterbiev Ruined Canelo’s Big Plans for Bivol

Hearn says he wants the judge who scored Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) 116-112 to never work another fight. Obviously, Bivol’s loss hurts Hearn’s hopes of a fight against Canelo Alvarez that would have been possible had he won.

A rematch of the Canelo-Bivol matches would have generated a fortune, bringing in untold riches. Instead, Bivol has his first loss, and his career looks shaky, so he needs to try to avenge the loss. That doesn’t look good.

A rematch could be worse for Bivol, as Beterbiev is likely to be eliminated. If Bivol loses again to Beterbiev, he’ll be useless ballast for Hearn, who won’t be able to do much with him other than use him as a B-player against David Benavidez, David Morrell, or Joshua Buatsi.

Interestingly, the 116-112 score that Hearn was insulting was the same as many fans on social media had for Beterbiev, who took advantage of a tired and injured Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) in the final round last night at the Kingdom Arena.

“How can we forget what just happened in the ring? Do we want to forget one of the biggest fights of our generation and in the most important fight of Bivol’s life, you give him four rounds? It’s really disgusting,” said Eddie Hearn on Matchroom Boxing, talking about the judge who scored Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight 116-112 for Artur.

Hearn should look at Bivol to see who you want to blame because he gave up the ship after the seventh round and he could not even be seen in the championship rounds. Whatever fight Bivol had in him, it was no longer in the center.

33-year-old Bivol left the ship and allowed Beterbiev to come aboard and take command. Bivol looked like he wanted no part in the fight with Beterbiev after being hit with a flurry of thunderous punches midway through the round. Bivol looked physically older than Beterbiev in the championship rounds, and showed no heart.

“They knew Artur Beterbiev lost this fight,” Hearn said of Beterbiev’s corner. “Top Rank knew that Beterbiev had lost this fight. Then word came that Artur Beterbiev had won by majority decision. I am completely frustrated and disgusted with the 116-112 scorecard. 115-113, I don’t like it,” Hearn said.

What on Earth is Hearn talking about? Top Rank didn’t think Beterbiev was missing. They knew that he had done his job, he hit Bivol with big guns that made him run away and win. Hearn can’t accept that the better man beat his fighter Bivol.

“8-4 to Dmitry Bivol,” Hearn said of how he scored the fight, handing his fighter Bivol a 116-112 round victory over Beterbiev. “He [Bivol] well placed there at night. “I don’t want to disrespect Beterbiev, but Bivol should be the undisputed champion today, and that judge should never work again,” Hearn said of the judge who scored Beterbiev 8-4.

“Four rounds of a fight like this is disgusting. I’m not saying it was a breakthrough victory or a world collapse for Dmitry Bivol. No one beat Artur Beterbiev in that fight. I didn’t even feel the pull. Beterbiev was fired. They knew they had lost the war.

“It was a great fight to watch. Dmitry was very smart. He was injured several times. He hurt Beterbiev several times. He took a lot of gloves. All marking here [on Bivol’s face]. You could tell it was from the gauze on his tape.

“He just fought a good fight in a tough fight. “When you get an opportunity like that and you hit like that and you don’t get a decision, it’s very painful,” said Hearn.

I don’t know how Hearn managed to keep a straight face when he hit a punch the way Bivol “took a good fight” when he ran into Beterbiev after tasting his power in the seventh round.