Artur Beterbiev’s trainer, John Scully, believes that David Benavidez is tailor-made for Artur to defeat, and he says his style of fighting would be perfect for his fighter to defeat.
Scully says that Benavidez’s focus on relying on his strength to win fights would be his downfall against Beterbiev. Benavidez, a close-range fighter, would stand directly in front of Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) and get chopped apart quickly.
WBC interim super middleweight champion Benavidez has talked about moving up to 175 after this year if he can’t get the fight that he wants against Canelo Alvarez.
However, the guy that Benavidez has mentioned repeatedly wanting to fight at light heavyweight is WBA champion Dmitry Bivol, not Beterbiev. Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) has sparred with Bivol before, so he’s comfortable with facing him, but he’s not dealt with Beterbiev.
Bivol in for a Rude Awakening
“Twelve rounds with Artur is a long time, and you can imagine how up for the fight Artur is going to be when he fights Bivol,” said trainer John Scully to Fighthype about the undisputed flight heavyweight championship this summer between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“You will not have seen anything like it when he [Beterbiev] gets in that ring. Putting the pressure on is going to be the #1 thing, and he’s going to be doing that,” Scully said about Beterbiev.
“Bivol is going to realize that Artur is not Canelo. He’s not a small guy. Bivol is not going to have Artur on the ropes, letting his hands go, and Artur is trying to hide and cover-up. So, it’s a different fight.
“If you think Bivol is going to win, and you’re basing it on the Canelo fight, that’s not smart business.
Benavidez: A Tailor-Made Target
“I like Benavidez; he’s strong and all that. I don’t see that as a hard fight, honestly. He’s made for Artur,” Scully said about David Benavidez being the ideal opponent for Beterbiev to defeat. “If you were to say, ‘Who shouldn’t fight Beterbiev?’ It would be him.”
Benavidez and his dad, Jose Sr., are arguably opportunists, and they don’t take fights unless they’re certain of winning.
“I don’t think that style of being strong and coming on later. You’re not going to do that with Artur. Artur read that book. I don’t see Benavidez as being this huge obstacle for Artur,” said Scully.
