New Bivol vs Beterbiev date confirmed after WBA champion stops Malik Zinad
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The eagerly awaited championship match between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, which will determine the undisputed light-heavyweight champion, now has a new date after it was delayed previously due to an injury.
The duo had plans to compete against each other in the '5 vs 5' event held in Riyadh on Saturday night. This event had five boxers from Eddie Hearn's Matchroom and five fighters from Frank Warren's Queensbury team. The end result of the event saw Warren's team win all 10 matches, including a major event where Zhilei Zhang shocked Deontay Wilder with a knockout in the fifth round.
Last month, they made public that Beterbiev got injured while training due to a torn meniscus. This impediment meant that he couldn't participate in the highly anticipated fight. Malik Zinad took the opportunity to take his spot.
Bivol dominated Zinad, who had a record of 22-1, and ended the fight in the sixth round with an explosive TKO. Bivol landed a powerful left hook and continued with a combination of left and right punches until the referee stopped the fight. This marked the first defeat for Zinad in his career.
Bivol maintained his excellent record, winning all of his 23 matches so far. He achieved his first stoppage victory since 2018, after securing nine consecutive unanimous decision victories. In a post-fight interview, Bivol stated that he always had the belief in his power and did not doubt himself.
Following the intense match, Turki Al-Sheikh, who is the chair of the General Authority for Entertainment in Saudi Arabia, entered the arena and announced that the Bivol vs Beterbiev fight will proceed on the newly set date of October 12 as part of the inaugural Riyadh Season event in Saudi Arabia.
The two boxers are yet to experience a defeat and they both come from Russia. However, Bivol (23-0, with 12 knockouts) represents Kyrgyzstan, which is his birthplace, while Beterbiev (20-0, with 20 KOs) resides in Canada from where he pursues his boxing career.
Beterbiev, at the age of 39, has emerged victorious in all of his professional fights by means of a knockout. He currently holds the WBC, WBO and IBF light-heavyweight titles. Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Bivol is the reigning WBA and IBO champion in the same division. The stakes are high as both fighters compete for undisputed status.
Bivol talked about his thoughts before the fight against Zinad, after having a new opponent switch at the last moment.
As skilled pugilists, it's essential for us to adapt our strategy on the fly and I had sufficient time to reconfigure my training to suit a new adversary instead of Beterbiev," clarified the 33-year-old athlete.
