Artur Beterbiev: record, next fight and profile →
By Alexey Sukachev - Shots were fired, and a legend was born. Not in the ring, but on the streets of Saint Petersburg - the capital of the Russian Empire - by a revolutionary crowd of labourers, soldiers and sailors. The shot was fired to signalize the birth of a new era not only for a single country but – sorry for the expr...
Light heavyweight Dmitry Bivol (13-0, 11 KOs) is undeniably one of Russia’s top new stars. The Russian is coming off a major knockout win over Australian Trent Broadhurst, which has officially confirmed his claim of the WBA light heavyweight champion. Vsenabox conducted an interview with Vadim Kornilov, who is Bivol’s manager, about his fighter's immediate and more distant plans, as well as about the current state of the division, partially dominated by the Russian boxers.
Former unified champion Sergey Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) is looking to impress when he comes back to the ring on November 25th against Vyacheslav Shabranskyy. At the Theater in New York's Madison Square Garden, the winner of the fight will be the owner of the vacant WBO light heavyweight title. Coming into this important match, Kovalev had lost back to back fights to Andre Ward. In losing those bouts, Kovalev was relieved of his WBO, WBA, IBF world titles. Ward retired a few months ago, creating a situation where all three titles were left vacant.
Last weekend in Fresno, Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) claimed the vacant IBF light heavyweight title with a twelfth round stoppage of Enrico Koelling of Germany. The belt became vacant after Andre Ward announced his retirement from the sport a few months ago. Now Beterbiev is ready to pick up the ball and wants to unify the entire 175-pound weight class.
The good news this past Saturday is that we saw a number of good fighters in action, including middleweight star Daniel Jacobs, new IBF 175-pound titleholder Artur Beterbiev and former U.S. Olympian Jose Ramirez. The bad news is that the major fights weren’t competitive. The television networks, which presumably strive to entertain fans, have had better nights. Here is a look at the biggest winners and losers.
Trainer Marc Ramsay tied a Canadian record on Saturday night in Fresno, when Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) stopped Enrico Koelling in the twelfth round to capture the vacant IBF light heavyweight world title at the Save Mart Center. For Ramsay, Beterbiev became the coach's third boxer to win a world title after Jean Pascal (2009) and David Lemieux (2015). That's the same number as another top Canadian trainer, Stephan Larouche, when he was the head coach of Lucian Bute, Eric Lucas and Leonard Dorin on the night when they reached the highest level in boxing.
ESPN’s live telecast of the Saturday, November 11 Top Rank on ESPN (10:30 p.m. ET to 12:15 a.m. ET) scored two major victories. The overall event delivered 0.9 metered market rating according to Nielsen, making it the second highest-rated boxing telecast on cable television in 2017. The featured co-main event, a battle between Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) and Enrico Köelling (23-2, 6 KOs) for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight world title, delivered a 1.0 metered market rating, making it the year’s second highest-rated boxing main event on cable television.
Beterbiev vs. Koelling Fight Photos Gallery - Russian boxer Artur Beterbiev claimed his first world title belt on Saturday with a 12th round knockout of Enrico Koelling in a battle for the vacant IBF light heavyweight crown. Photos by Mikey Williams/Top Rank. The undefeated Beterbiev recorded his 12th straight knockout but he had to go past seven rounds for the first time in his career to get the 175-pound belt.
Save Mart Arena, Fresno - For the vacant IBF light heavyweight world title, Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) nearly went the distance, but scored two knockdowns in the twelfth and final round to stop Enrico Koelling (23-2, 6 KOs).