by Keith Idec
AN attorney for Dmitry Bivol officially petitioned the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO on Wednesday to order an immediate rematch with Artur Beterbiev.
Patrick English, a New Jersey-based lawyer who represents Bivol, cited the “hotly disputed majority decision” Beterbiev won on Saturday night as justification for those four sanctioning organizations to mandate that Beterbiev defend those light heavyweight titles versus Bivol next. The 39-year-old is not contractually obligated to box Bivol again, but Beterbiev, Bivol and Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh all indicated that a second fight is warranted based on the closely contested nature of their 12-round, 175-pound title unification fight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Bivol’s attorney also referenced precedent in the document, a copy of which was obtained by Boxing News.
English lobbied on behalf of Lennox Lewis, a client through promoter Main Events, for an immediate rematch with Evander Holyfield after a 12-round heavyweight title fight Lewis clearly won was declared a split draw in March 1999 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lewis won their immediate rematch by unanimous decision in November 1999 at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas.
The result of Beterbiev-Bivol hasn’t drawn widespread backlash like the outlandish official result of Lewis-Holyfield I, but their thoroughly competitive contest seemingly could’ve gone either way.
Bivol boxed off his back foot almost the entire bout, but he utilized his jab effectively, connected in combination at times when he stood his ground and landed five more punches overall than Beterbiev according to CompuBox’s unofficial statistics. Beterbiev, however, landed the flusher punches regularly and was the aggressor, an approach often rewarded by judges.
Poland’s Pawel Kardyni (116-112) and American Glenn Feldman (115-113) scored the back-and-forth fight for the Russian-born, Quebec-based Beterbiev. Spain’s Manuel Oliver Palomo scored Beterbiev-Bivol a draw, 114-114.
Vadim Kornilov, Bivol’s manager, took particular exception to Kardyni scoring eight rounds for Beterbiev.
“Due to the fact that this fight was quite controversial, we proceeded with a rematch request and protest of the decision with all of the sanctioning bodies,” Kornilov said in a statement released to multiple outlets. “And we are still working on the possibility of a review of the 116-112 scorecard.”
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs), who went the distance for the first time in 11 years as a pro, retained his IBF, WBC, WBO and IBO belts by winning their long-awaited showdown. The two-time Russian Olympian also became boxing’s first fully unified light heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), a longtime Russia resident who was a slight betting favourite, lost the WBA belt.
