Trainer Teddy Atlas is siding with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol to use his “Titanium” mind to defeat IBF/WBC/WBO champ Artur Beterbiev in their undisputed championship in June or July in their fight in Saudi Arabia.
Atlas feels that Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) is too skilled for the stronger Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs), and he sees it as a fight that Dmitry will control with his ability.
Teddy does think Beterbiev has a chance of winning if the referee who works with the fight permits him to work inside without pulling him away. If the referee is the type that doesn’t allow inside fighting, Beterbiev has no chance of winning.
Bivol will keep the fight outside and dominate with his jab and long-range shots. That said, Beterbiev is busy throwing punches when he’s on the inside, so there’s no reason why the referee would choose to pull him away.
Bivol’s Inner Strength: The Titanium Advantage
“I think that Bivol beats him. I think that Bivol controls range, he counter-punches well, and he is defensively very solid, but here is the most important reason why I give Bivol a chance: he is mentally solid, too,” said Teddy Atlas on his forum.
Bivol would have to show the kind of toughness he displayed in his fight with Joe Smith Jr. to withstand the pressure that Beterbiev puts on him because he looked mentally weak in his recent fight against Lyndon Arthur on December 23rd.
Lyndon’s little pressure on Bivol made him look uncomfortable, and he was hurt by the British fighter in the eighth round. Perhaps Atlas didn’t watch the Bivol vs. Lyndon fight closely because Dmitry looked scared when the British fighter attacked him.
Can Bivol Withstand Beterbiev’s Counter-punching?
“You have got to be mentally solid; forget about the physical stuff. Yeah, you have got to be good, but that brain has got to be surrounded by titanium,” said Atlas.
Bivol’s habit of throwing three-punch combinations could get him in hot water against Beterbiev because he’s going to get countered if he dares to throw more than one shot at a time,
“I don’t mean to keep the blows from hurting you; I mean to keep the pressure from sinking, melting, and evaporating you. He has got that warrior spirit, he has got it, he just approaches it differently [than Beterbiev], he uses different weaponry, that’s all,” said Atlas about Bivol.
