Beterbiev’s promoter agreeable to Kovalev fight

By Boxing News - 07/28/2015 - Comments

beterbiev1022By Allan Fox: Yvon Michel, the promoter for unbeaten light heavyweight Artur Beterbiev (9-0, 9 KOs) is agreeable to a title fight against IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) before the end of the year if the terms are to his liking.

Kovalev’s promoter Kathy Duva revealed last Saturday night that she’s interested in matching Kovalev against Beterbiev on November 28th in Moscow, Russia. Michel says the Kovalev fight is one that Beterbiev has been interested in all along since turning pro two years ago after twice beating Kovalev in the amateur ranks.

It’s definitely a fight that the two-time Russian Olympian Beterbiev wants if the terms of the negotiations are fair.

Michel and Beterbiev’s adviser Al Haymon have spoken about the Kovalev fight, and they are both willin for the fight to take place.

“We want a reasonable agreement. We are ready to fight on HBO. But we want a one shot deal. It does not matter that Kathy Duva wantss Artur Beterbiev for three or four fights should a victory against Sergei Kovalev,” Yvon Michel said via journaldemontreal.com “The first time Beterbiev and I met, he asked me when was he could face Sergei Kovalev. This answers the question, “said Michel.

It’s interesting that Beterbiev actually wants to fight Kovalev. Many of the top light heavyweights don’t seem to be too eager for that fight, but they don’t have a lot of options to avoid the hard hitting Russian fighter because he now holds three of the four 175lb titles. The only titles not in the possession of Kovalev are the WBA World “regular” title held by Juergen Braehmer and the WBC belt hold by Adonis Stevenson.

Getting a shot against either of those two fighters is extremely difficult because their promoters and/or advisers very particular in whom they match their fighters against. The only way to guarantee a shot at those guys is to become the mandatory challenger to them, and that obviously takes a lot of time and it’s not easy to do.

While some boxing fans believe that it would be smarter for Beterbiev to wait two to three more years to pick up more experience before he faces Kovalev for his titles, it’s not practical for Beterbiev to do this because he’s already in his 30s and he’s not going to be helped by waiting until he’s in his mid-30s to take the fight.

The problem that Beterbiev has is he spent too much time in his amateur career and got a late start in turning pro. But with all of Beterbiev’s amateur experience, he doesn’t need to burn through 30 fights like most pros do before he starts facing the best. Beterbiev is a two-time Olympian with massive amounts of amateur experience against some of the best fighters in the world. He doesn’t need to waste 6-10 years of his pro career before fighting for a world title. He’s ready right now.

Beterbiev must feel confident that he can beat Kovalev again for him to be actively trying to get a fight against him rather than shying away from the fight. Beterbiev vs. Stevenson would be a tougher fight for Beterbiev because of Stevenson’s hand speed, jab and ability to move around the ring. That’s not to say that Beterbiev couldn’t possibly beat Stevenson, because the Canadian based fighter is 38 now and doesn’t have much of an inside game. Beterbiev is an excellent fighter on the inside. However, Kovalev and Braehmer are better options for Beterbiev.



Comments are closed.