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Roy Jones Jr. Leaning Toward Bivol Beating Beterbiev in Rematch
NEWS
Manouk Akopyan
Manouk Akopyan
RingMagazine.com
Roy Jones Jr. Leaning Toward Bivol Beating Beterbiev in Rematch
Roy Jones Jr. was the last undisputed light heavyweight champion before Artur Beterbiev accomplished the same feat by beating Dmitry Bivol in October via majority decision.

The Russians will meet in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a highly anticipated rematch on Riyadh Season’s latest event, which is billed as “The Last Crescendo.”

The Hall of Fame fighter turned coach, commentator, and promoter Jones anticipates the title to change hands in the rematch.

“It's a tough fight to call again. I will probably say that Bivol will even the score this time so that we get the trilogy,” Jones told The Ring.

“The way the first fight unfolded, Bivol got out in front and he thought he had done enough to win the fight, so he kind of took it a little easier in the second half. I thought Bivol was trying to hold his lead. However, Artur didn't really do too good in the first half, but he stuck to his boxing plan and he did very well once Bivol started to slow in later parts of the fight. I thought it should have been a draw.

“Beterbiev has an exceptional demeanor. He’s the kind of guy that never tells you he's good because he's constantly trying to get better. You have to love that about a person, especially at his age. That says a lot, to have that hunger. That really gave me a better feeling than before I met him.

“Beterbiev left with the momentum but I was shocked he didn't take more Beterbiev-type shots at Bivol to try to knock him out. That being said, there is sometimes a reason. I am sure he didn't want to leave himself exposed to be caught by a good shot by Bivol. Because Bivol could have put him down too. I met with Artur and I told him, 'When you are Artur Beterbiev, we expect to see you knock people out. We don't want to see you outbox Bivol. Just like we don't expect Mike Tyson to beat people by decision. We want to see you take Bivol out or almost take him out. If you outbox him and almost take him out, we'll take that too because you did what you had to do to win but you also gave us some of you.’ In the first fight, I don't even remember him really hurting Bivol. That's not like Artur.”

Turki Alalshikh, head of Riyadh Season and chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, has indicated that a trilogy would take place should Bivol end up with the win.

Beterviev is a -130 betting favorite and Bivol is a +105 underdog, according to DraftKings.

Manouk Akopyan is a lead writer for Ring Magazine. He can be reached on X and Instagram @ManoukAkopyan.

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