By Joe Hughes
THE most anticipated fight of the year for many happens this weekend when Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev square off for the undisputed light-heavyweight championship of the world. Itโs a classic stylistic clash of boxer vs puncher, even though both can box and both can punch. Bivol is a masterful boxer and has the classic Russian amateur in-and-out footwork and punching style.ย
Heโs very light on his feet and accurately throws fast, hurtful combinations. Beterbiev is the proverbial wrecking machine; heโs very strong, very powerful and he does not lack for skill either. However, his style is less pretty in the eye than that of his countrymen.
Itโs a true 50/50, and I personally have found it very hard to pick a winner. You could flip a coin on who may win, and it wouldnโt be a bad guess. Iโll go for Beterbiev in a very, very close fight, but I wouldnโt be shocked by any result. Itโs great for boxing that these sorts of fights are happening, but itโs still unclear how โRiyadh Seasonโ will affect boxing long term, positively or negatively.
Post-retirement marathon
My wife and I ran a Trail Marathon last Saturday in aid of the Erbโs Palsy Group UK. Iโve never really been very good at running, although I have done a lot of it due to boxing. I didnโt enjoy running either while I was competing, I think because it was something I felt I had to do rather than something I wanted to do.ย
Since Iโve retired, I have enjoyed it a lot more, and surprisingly, I actually really enjoyed the event last weekend. I didnโt prepare properly for it and only ran a handful of times in the month leading up to it, which resulted in me suffering a few hamstring cramps that stopped me in my tracks.
I found myself falling over and stretching in the middle of random fields multiple times. I was never dropped in my boxing career but took a few eight counts over the 26 miles.ย
Iโve struggled to find a challenge that interests me after boxing but this was one and itโs something I think Iโll start doing more of and it was very rewarding to be able to raise some money for a great cause.