Craig Richards Says Beterbiev Hiding His Combined Strength In Defeating Bivol

Craig Richards believes that Artur Beterbiev’s ability to hide his strength was key to his victory over Dmitry Bivol last Saturday night. Light heavyweight champion Richards has helped 175-lb unification champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) prepare for a fight against WBA champion Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) through sparring.

Richards says that Beterbiev uses a very weak “throw” shot to keep his opponents steady, then loads up with one of his heavy punches. Because of Beterbiev’s power, his opponents cannot rest, and Richard noted that this is what happened with Bivol. He was uncomfortable, and he didn’t know when Beterbiev would throw his power shot.

In the later rounds, from 9 to 12, Beterbiev did not stop with his pressure and wore Bivol down because he was forced to go without stopping. He couldn’t stand in front of Beterbiev because he was throwing too many punches.

Even though Bivol had blocked most of the shots, the force of the blows was coming through his gloves to his head. Bivol looked stunned from rounds 7-12 and was ineffective without throwing weak jabs. Beterbiev took all the heavy guns.

“Bivol worked well behind his jab in the first two to three rounds, and he was getting a lot of success. “When he stopped doing that he started moving a lot and allowed Beterbiev to close the distance on him, Beterbiev was allowed to push him a little bit more and get more success,” said Craig Richards speaking to Secondsout, sharing his thoughts on last Saturday’s fight between the lights. Heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

What Richards is saying is that Beterbiev didn’t start applying pressure until the fifth round, and when he started to do that, Bivol was forced to move. His punches no longer worked because Beterbiev was ducking and coming in, landing heavy punches. Bivol couldn’t handle the power, so he started running. It was an easy fight to understand. When Beterbiev finished his charge, it was a one-sided game with him coming forward and Bivol in one long position. He had given up.

“He’s very smart in that some of his shots, he may not be very late, but if you know he can hit, it will keep someone standing,” Richards said of Beterbiev. So, he may not be throwing a hard shot, but you never know when it will come. He knows that he can hit, so you automatically [tense up] with whatever he throws. He can change the rounds by throwing the gun.

“I thought that if Bivol could be more comfortable in front of him and not fall into some of those tactics, I felt that he would have a lot of success. I had a feeling he did that in certain rounds. He was slipping and standing in front of him, preparing for a jab, but Beterbiev is too smart.

“He kept throwing that throwing stick, and then he shot hard. Bivol was like, ‘Hey, now I don’t know when the heavy guns are coming.’ So, he [Beterbiev] he combines his powers very well. He stands up to the pressure, and when he leaves, he continues,” said Richards about Beterbiev.

It would have been interesting to see how Bivol would have done if he had followed Richard’s advice by staying relaxed and standing in front of Beterbiev. I don’t think it would have ended well for Bivol, but still it would have been fun to see if he stopped in the pocket instead of giving himself up the way he did.

The way Bivol gave up in the end made him look weak. If Bivol is going to fight like that in a rematch, the Honorable should save his money and fight someone like Joshua Buatsi, David Morrell, or David Benavidez because the fans will not get their money.