Artur Beterbiev’s victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019 is remembered by all fans. The Russian unified the WBC and IBF Light Heavyweight World Cups and moved to a new dimension. Beterbiev had quality, but he had to show it. He did and we were all waiting for him on large posters, but he found two bad news.
The first the pandemic, which stopped everything, and the second the respect it instills in its opponents. He is undefeated in 16 fights and has always won by KO. Certainly the cover letter does not encourage challenge.
Due to that second problem, Beterbiev looks somewhat stagnant. 2020 had it blank and returned this March in Russia ending with Adam Deines. This Friday he returns to Montreal, where he resides, to make a new defense against the number of the World Boxing Council.
As the phone rings, the mandatories go by. The possibility of fighting with Canelo has been dreaming for months, also that of meeting Bivol, the WBA monarch who retained his belt last Saturday. Many words, but few deeds.
Despite being mandatory, this Friday’s fight is very attractive. Ex-Olympian Marcus Browne (24-1, 16 KO) awaits him. The 31-year-old American is facing the fight that can change his life. He has only yielded to Jean Pascal. A stumbling block that does not make us forget its quality.
When he beat Badou, Jack made it clear that he can be in for these fights, although the hell is going on. Browne knows this and that is why he has done all his preparation in Dallas (he is from New York) and far from adopting his usual attitude, for the moment he has shown the utmost respect to Beterbiev.
The Russian hits hard, moves well, manages the timing of the fight perfectly and endures everything that comes his way. Therefore, It is a clear favorite. It’s a machine, and potential big-fight rivals are waiting for it to become stale.
So far he has not shown any evidence of this. This Friday he has a new opportunity to prove it. If he wins well, he will challenge again. hopefully someone of renown will accept the glove. This is what the division in general and Beterbiev in particular need.