Your Gameplan for Artur in the Bivol Rematch

[SouthpawRight]

What changes do you have Artur make?

[Joseph]

Press the action. He won a razor-thin fight by rallying at the last second. He has to walk through Dmitry.

Bivol needs to go back to the Soviet step and just keep him utterly confused. He did not do that in the first fight, which was bizarre.

[QueensburyRules]

What changes do you have Artur make?

- - Do what he did before, but expanded since he now knows how to deal with Bivol.

That said, Artur 40 yr old now prone to injuries, so that is Bivol's hope, to run him ragged until he is injured...

[crimsonfalcon07]

Press the action. He won a razor-thin fight by rallying at the last second. He has to walk through Dmitry.

Bivol needs to go back to the Soviet step and just keep him utterly confused. He did not do that in the first fight, which was bizarre.

I don't think Bivol really could. Soviet step is linear motion, and one that Artur is intimately familiar with. Beterbiev's bread and butter is chasing a guy who's retreating backwards, since you can advance faster than you can retreat. He loves to throw lunging hooks as a guy is backing up. The point of the Soviet step is to step in and engage an otherwise static opponent and then quickly disengage. If they're constantly coming at you, you end up on the back foot anyways. He was able to use it against Canelo because Canelo has cement feet, and Bivol was the bigger man and acted like it. That wasn't the case vs Beterbiev.

Lateral motion is a necessity when fighting a pressure fighter. You saw just last weekend how well Sunny Edwards did without using his legs vs a much less skilled pressure fighter in Yafai. Ideally Bivol would tighten the lateral movement circle and open up on Beterbiev at the ropes himself, but I think Beterbiev may be too skilled.

I think Beterbiev can fight the same fight he did and win simply because he's got more paths to victory with his power, and because judges usually value the aggression of the fighter on the front foot over the boxing of the outfighter, unless the outfighter has either the power advantage and lands the more damaging shots, or the promotional advantage as the A-side (Shakur Stevenson or Devin Haney). Otherwise, the outfighter can lose the fight on the back foot, even if they outland the opponent by double (Conceicao comes to mind here). Bivol's issue is that he needs to be able to massively increase his output to be assured of victory, and that just gives Beterbiev more opportunities. And Beterbiev is the champ now, so Bivol is even more the B-side. I scored the first fight for Bivol, but understand why he didn't win, but unless he can start using angles and shifts to increase his output dramatically, I think we'll see an even more one-sided defense on the cards for Beterbiev this time, barring injury.

[Groin Grabber]

My gameplan would be to win

[SouthpawRight]

Press the action. He won a razor-thin fight by rallying at the last second. He has to walk through Dmitry.

Bivol needs to go back to the Soviet step and just keep him utterly confused. He did not do that in the first fight, which was bizarre.

I don't think Bivol really could. Soviet step is linear motion, and one that Artur is intimately familiar with. Beterbiev's bread and butter is chasing a guy who's retreating backwards, since you can advance faster than you can retreat. He loves to throw lunging hooks as a guy is backing up. The point of the Soviet step is to step in and engage an otherwise static opponent and then quickly disengage. If they're constantly coming at you, you end up on the back foot anyways. He was able to use it against Canelo because Canelo has cement feet, and Bivol was the bigger man and acted like it. That wasn't the case vs Beterbiev.

Lateral motion is a necessity when fighting a pressure fighter. You saw just last weekend how well Sunny Edwards did without using his legs vs a much less skilled pressure fighter in Yafai. Ideally Bivol would tighten the lateral movement circle and open up on Beterbiev at the ropes himself, but I think Beterbiev may be too skilled.

I think Beterbiev can fight the same fight he did and win simply because he's got more paths to victory with his power, and because judges usually value the aggression of the fighter on the front foot over the boxing of the outfighter, unless the outfighter has either the power advantage and lands the more damaging shots, or the promotional advantage as the A-side (Shakur Stevenson or Devin Haney). Otherwise, the outfighter can lose the fight on the back foot, even if they outland the opponent by double (Conceicao comes to mind here). Bivol's issue is that he needs to be able to massively increase his output to be assured of victory, and that just gives Beterbiev more opportunities. And Beterbiev is the champ now, so Bivol is even more the B-side. I scored the first fight for Bivol, but understand why he didn't win, but unless he can start using angles and shifts to increase his output dramatically, I think we'll see an even more one-sided defense on the cards for Beterbiev this time, barring injury.

Bivol was wary of Artur’s overhand. High Guard Lateral Bivol made it damn near impossible for Artur to land a clean overhand.

His Soviet Step has a low long guard. Soviet Step Bivol is better at controlling distance and attacking than Lateral Bivol

I think Bivol psychology will be different, and he’ll fight differently. Bivol knows he has a great 8/10 chin that can take a hard Artur counter. Bivol knows his left hook has the power to affect Artur legs. Bivol knows he has the strength to push Artur’s head down in a clinch

Soviet Step takes a lot of energy

Pacing will be crucial for both

Artur start faster. Don’t risk another tight decision with Bivol sweeping the early rounds

Round 13 of fight 1 rather than round 1 of match 2

Bivol will need to use his explosive handspeed edge to land and deter Artur. Too much lateral tired Bivol the first time around. Find the sweet spot between using his speed advantage to fight and biking

Juggling between the long guard on the outside/high guard elsewhere and Soviet Step/Lateral will make Bivol harder to time

Bivol could clinch. If he wasn’t against clinching, these fights would be so much easier

I think they split the first half of the fight then Bivol wins by taking the second half.

Due to the possibility of a trilogy and Bivol being younger with more fights left I’m predicting the scorecards lean towards him this time

Win 6 rounds and they score for him

[SouthpawRight]

My gameplan would be to win

Artur’s path to a clear victory is a consistent body attack

Tire Bivol, lower his guard, and open up that clean overhand

Soviet Step Long Guard Bivol can do more with his left hook than just throw it off of the 2

[MulaKO]

Lmfao
Can’t make this chit up
The so called master boxer will get his ass handed to him a second time


War Beterbiev

[billeau2]

What changes do you have Artur make?

Great thread Brother!

I actually look at BB like one of those veterans that has all his wisdom and training accessible... An apt analogy would be when Sponge Bob makes his brain so that it knows only fine dining (Squiddy wanted to impress a high school rival lol). So I do not think he has to focus on a corner, or a plan... Just know when to make adjustments.

People tend to skew things: They picture one fighter as having options (Bivol) while the other (Beiter) as just trying to wreck... when in fact, both guys are locked into a program. Could Bivol "Out slug" the slugger? Could Beiter "outbox" the boxer? It has happened...

But I believe for this fight no one will know what to do until it develops a bit, goes a few rounds or so. Bivol should concentrate on taking any of these early rounds with his jab and general activity, and Bieter should be wary of giving up any of these rounds because the fight will probably be close.

About the only other thing I would want for Beiter is for him to create some distance, variate the timing of his shots, so he does not just lose power trying to force a shot, head hunting. Sometimes power punchers throw too much and lose "steam" on their shots.

far as going to the body there are two "things" to consider: It can be risky against a master boxer, with length and a good jab like Bivol. Also, If Bieter's money punch could be avoided it would be.. The reason it cannot is because Bieter has excellent movement skills, including good feet and good lateral movement.

[Joseph]

I don't think Bivol really could. Soviet step is linear motion, and one that Artur is intimately familiar with.

Great analysis, and explains Dmitry's decision not to use it. I personally thought there were moments where he could've used it after a sustained attack to buy himself some time, but then I'm not a boxer.