By Adam Baskin: Stephen A. Smith of ESPN picks Artur Beterbiev as the pound-for-pound fighter in boxing following the previous #1 Canelo Alvarez being soundly beaten by Dmitry Bivol last May in a full-scale rout.
Smith points out that all the fighters at 175 are “running” from the unbeaten IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs).
While Teddy Atlas believes WBA 175-lb champion Bivol should be the top guy, Stephen A says Beterbiev will knock him out when that fight comes around.
Top Rank, the promoters for Beterbiev, are interested in making the undisputed match between him and Bivol in 2023.
Beterbiev must first take care of his WBO mandatory Anthony Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) next month on January 28th at the OVO Arena in London, England.
If Beterbiev wins that fight, the undisputed match against Bivol could occur in late summer.
For Canelo to win back his #1 perch as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter, he’ll need to avenge his loss to Bivol. Thus far, Canelo hasn’t shown any desire to face his conqueror a second time.
He’s sidestepped the rematch with Bivol once by choosing to fight Gennadiy Golovkin last September, and now he’ll be swerving him a second time by facing John Ryder next May.
“There’s a lot of things to take into consideration. Once upon a time, it was Canelo. That’s not the case now. He lost to [Dmitry] Bivol, we saw that. So he got picked apart there,” said Stephen A. Smith to The Fight with Teddy Atlas when talking about who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.
“The other thing is this. I would tell you that it’s hard to pick between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. Gervonta Davis is up there. You know what name I’m going to throw out to you guys, though? Beterbiev.
“Everyone is running from this guy. He’s a monster at the light heavyweight,” said Smith.
“What about Bivol? Bivol is pretty damn good,” said Atlas.
“Bivol? I will tell you this. Beterbiev, I think, will take him out. I really do,” said Stephen A. Smith about his belief that IBF, WBC & WBO 175-lb champion Beterbiev would knockout WBA champ Bivol.
“Beterbiev is the puncher,” said Atlas.
“Not just that,” said Smith. “He comes, he stalks, and he cuts off the ring. It’s hard to run from him.”
“I think it’s very similar to [Ryan] Garcia and Tank Davis, where Bivol would take the place of Garcia and Beterbiev would be Tank Davis,” said Atlas. “I think it’s very similar. If Bivol can control the outside and box a perfect fight or as close as perfect as possible, he wins.”
Atlas is selling Bivol short by comparing him to Ryan Garcia because that’s ridiculous. Ryan is a badly flawed fighter who had only a brief amateur career. He didn’t stay in the amateur ranks long enough to learn how to box properly.
Mostly, Ryan is a self-taught fighter with one weapon in his left hook and many bad habits.
“If Beterbiev can close that gap, get inside, go to the body, slow him down, take the wheels away, and take the air out of the tires, he can get to him and beat Bivol.
“If I was forced to pick one, I’m going with Bivol,” said Atlas. “I understand Beterbiev is a solid guy. He doesn’t get credit for being technically solid enough because he’s not that flashy guy with defense. He’s a banger.
“He’s a guy that gets to you, he’s a guy that finds you, and he’s a guy that gets rid of you. He’s also very technically solid, so I agree with you on that,” said Atlas.