On Saturday, October 12, on the Kingdom Area in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Artur Beterbiev will look to cement his legacy when he takes on Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed mild heavyweight championship.
The combat may open the door to an much more high-profile future showdown: a attainable combat in opposition to Canelo Alvarez or David Benavidez. However would it not be attainable?
John Scully, Beterbiev’s assistant coach, is evident that the subsequent large combat needs to be for glory, but in addition for cash. And whereas he needs Canelo Alvarez to return to 175 kilos to face his fighter, he additionally acknowledges the issues that will come up due to the dimensions distinction.
Canelo too small for Beterbiev?
Scully was cautious when speaking a few attainable combat between the Russian champion and Canelo.
“I wish to see Canelo transfer up once more,” Scully confessed in a current interview, which will likely be revealed this week on the United Boxing podcast. Nonetheless, he added that Canelo has averted Beterbiev up to now by transferring as much as mild heavyweight to combat Sergey Kovalev and Dmitry Bivol, however not the Russian.
The coach can be conscious of the strategic causes behind that call. “I am not one to name folks cowards. I perceive that this can be a enterprise,” he identified, stressing that, though Canelo has already confronted two mild heavyweights, avoiding Beterbiev was no fluke: “Clearly, there is a purpose for that.”
Scully shouldn’t be alone in questioning Canelo’s want to face Beterbiev. Whereas Canelo has confirmed his energy by beating Kovalev in 2019 and difficult Bivol in 2022, the combat with Kovalev included weight restrictions, one thing many, together with Scully, think about unfair.
“Kovalev could not make weight after the weigh-in. You may as properly shoot him within the head with a bullet. You killed him with that stipulation,” Scully stated, recalling the controversy surrounding Canelo’s win.
Canelo’s return to 175?
The coach acknowledges the monetary and media enchantment of a combat between Beterbiev and Canelo, however insists that Alvarez can be “too small” to face his fighter.
Whereas Scully longs for such a bout due to the monetary advantages it may generate, he cannot ignore the plain bodily distinction between the 2 fighters.
“In case you bear in mind the combat with GGG, GGG made Canelo look small. Think about what he’ll appear like subsequent to Artur,” Scully stated, evaluating the Mexican’s dimension to that of Beterbiev. This distinction, he says, can be much more evident in opposition to the Russian, who has knocked out all of his opponents.
Would a conflict in opposition to Benavidez be extra engaging?
Whereas a combat in opposition to Canelo can be a dream for each Scully and boxing followers, the coach additionally factors to a different engaging choice: David Benavidez. The American, who just lately moved as much as 175 kilos and defeated former champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk, can be a formidable opponent.
“For the cash and the celebrity, I’d like to see that combat (with Canelo), however I feel the larger combat, though most likely for much less cash, can be in opposition to Benavidez,” Scully defined.
Benavidez’s aggressive fashion and bodily power would, in keeping with the coach, be an ideal match for Beterbiev. “If folks say Benavidez is ‘The Monster,’ Artur is the actual monster now. Let’s face it. He is not going to match power with Artur,” he added.
