Comments Thread For: Arum: If Joe Smith & Beterbiev Win, Sets Up A Huge Fight That'd Sell Out MSG Easy

[jmrf4435]

Joe has really improved

Good fight

[wileyhemi]

3 belt unification fight at LHW is a trash fight. Gotcha

It seems for many posters on this site there hasn't been a decent fight since Frazier Ali

[ArthurDimes]

Beterbiev's skills are a lot better than he seems to get credit for on here.

Beterbiev's skills are a lot better than he seems to get credit for on here.

I agree, my comment was more praise of Bivol than a slight of Beterbiev. You don’t attain the amateur pedigree Beterbiev has without having good skills. However Bivol has the far bigger repertoire and better defense, and that can be in part attributed to the fact he is the far far better athlete of the two.

Bivol’s footwork is superb and his hand speed is blazing. Really Lomachenko like in the way he uses every inch of that ring to evade, pivot, and then work angles most cannot. I just really don’t think Beterbiev has the body attack or counterpunching ability to slow down Bivol’s work rate to make it competitive on the cards, and given the mentioned elusiveness he will have a hard time walking him down and cutting off the ring. If it went the distance I’d wager Bivol wins by fairly wide margins, especially since Beterbiev isn’t getting any younger.

[Motorcity Cobra]

It wouldn't even sell 1/4th of the seats because nobody knows either fighter. Joe Smith is a tough guy and he has good victory over Eleider Alvarez recently, so he can make things a little interesting but I wouldn't expect him to win. The fight I'd pay real money to see would be Beterbiev vs Bivol, but it would never sell out either, the light heavy weight divisions is an unfortunate division right now. It has some decent talent but 0 stars.

It would sell out 15k at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. I wouldn't take it to the Garden when Smith's fanbase is in Long Island

[Superbee]

Do you watch boxing????

Beterbieve has been droppped and wobbled several times he has a very suspect chin.

Please define "several" .... I mean yeah, Beterbiev style puts him in the line of coming leather for sure... Thing is in the 2 occasions he was dropped, he came back with vengeance... Ask Johnson about it... I won't talk about Page because it was more gettting caught off balance really... Anyway I think he showed he could take shots pretty well and give them back in a painful way with no way out for the other guy... He's the one @ LHW, no doubt... Now hit me !

[Superbee]

I agree, my comment was more praise of Bivol than a slight of Beterbiev. You don’t attain the amateur pedigree Beterbiev has without having good skills. However Bivol has the far bigger repertoire and better defense, and that can be in part attributed to the fact he is the far far better athlete of the two.

Bivol’s footwork is superb and his hand speed is blazing. Really Lomachenko like in the way he uses every inch of that ring to evade, pivot, and then work angles most cannot. I just really don’t think Beterbiev has the body attack or counterpunching ability to slow down Bivol’s work rate to make it competitive on the cards, and given the mentioned elusiveness he will have a hard time walking him down and cutting off the ring. If it went the distance I’d wager Bivol wins by fairly wide margins, especially since Beterbiev isn’t getting any younger.

Once Beterbiev gets to you, you're done... And he always does as he showed 15 times now... I'd even give Punchers like Smith a better chance than I'd give Bivol... You see, Bivol showed he would slow down at times in the course of a fight and I don't believe he would sustain the constant pressure and pain from Beterbiev coming in over and over again (ask Gvozdyk about that Body pain)... I'm not even sure he even wants to taste that... The first time Beterbiev gets you square you're more or less done because it will come over and over again until the inevitable outcome... Beterbiev stamina is still out of this world, even at 36...

[tokon]

I know that most hardcore fans would prefer to see Beterbiev vs. Bivol but Beterbiev-Smith isn't a bad fight either. Plus the winner can still face Bivol and the fight would be that much bigger.

Yes, a couple of fights leading to full unification is a good enough schedule.

[ArthurDimes]

Once Beterbiev gets to you, you're done... And he always does as he showed 15 times now... I'd even give Punchers like Smith a better chance than I'd give Bivol... You see, Bivol showed he would slow down at times in the course of a fight and I don't believe he would sustain the constant pressure and pain from Beterbiev coming in over and over again (ask Gvozdyk about that Body pain)... I'm not even sure he even wants to taste that... The first time Beterbiev gets you square you're more or less done because it will come over and over again until the inevitable outcome... Beterbiev stamina is still out of this world, even at 36...

Yea I said in my original comment the only reason this fight is interesting is because of Beterbiev’s tremendous power. But that’s the thing, Bivol doesn’t really give you the opportunity to hit him flush. Bivol has faced plenty of big punchers though. Beterbiev hasn’t faced anywhere near the elusiveness and hand speed that Bivol presents. Beterbiev has shown he can get floored as well, by people far less talented than Bivol. Let’s not act like Bivol is feather fisted. Sure he may be a pinch or two small compared to other top light heavy’s but the rate he gets off quality shots from all over the map more than makes up for it.

I haven’t seen him slow down much. I’ve seen him let his foot off the gas when giving a solid butt whipping but he’s usually woken up. His style demands superb conditioning and he definitely has it.

[Superbee]

Yea I said in my original comment the only reason this fight is interesting is because of Beterbiev’s tremendous power. But that’s the thing, Bivol doesn’t really give you the opportunity to hit him flush. Bivol has faced plenty of big punchers though. Beterbiev hasn’t faced anywhere near the elusiveness and hand speed that Bivol presents. Beterbiev has shown he can get floored as well, by people far less talented than Bivol. Let’s not act like Bivol is feather fisted. Sure he may be a pinch or two small compared to other top light heavy’s but the rate he gets off quality shots from all over the map more than makes up for it.

I haven’t seen him slow down much. I’ve seen him let his foot off the gas when giving a solid butt whipping but he’s usually woken up. His style demands superb conditioning and he definitely has it.

Ok... let's talk about Gvozdyk then... Well rounded fighter, hand speed, great skills, elusiveness, great ring I.Q., more Pop ... Overall ranked as good as Bivol (higher for me)... Had a good first half in the fight...And what happened to him ?

Of course anything can happen on a given day... But to me the outcome is inevitable...

[ArthurDimes]

Ok... let's talk about Gvozdyk then... Well rounded fighter, hand speed, great skills, elusiveness, great ring I.Q., more Pop ... Overall ranked as good as Bivol (higher for me)... Had a good first half in the fight...And what happened to him ?

Of course anything can happen on a given day... But to me the outcome is inevitable...

Gvozdyk to Bivol is an apples to oranges comparison. Gvozdyk doesn’t have anywhere near the footwork and mobility the other guys in his stable and Bivol do. He’s stiff and unimpressive athletically outside of pretty good power and size. For a guy that fights as he does to only land 20 something jabs at a 9% clip against Beterbiev isn’t someone that screams blazing hand speed. Gvozdyk was made big on association more than his skills. His win against Stevenson doesn’t do much for me when Stevenson never did a whole lot to get the rep he did and was like 40 years old.

His repertoire is much smaller than Bivol’s in both hands, again in part cause he is a lesser athlete in comparison. And he has nowhere near the head movement or reflexes to fight off his back foot like Bivol has. He goes into a fight knowing he’s gonna get hit plenty in return if he’s going to do damage. Bivol doesn’t.