Notebook: As usual, Beterbiev wants actions to speak louder than words
Defends undisputed light heavyweight title in Bivol sequel; Adames, Sheeraz collide for middleweight belt on loaded card; YouTube shows; Shields suspended; TR undercard set; Quick hits; Show and tell
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As usual, Artur Beterbiev is a man of few words.
The undisputed light heavyweight champion has always preferred to let his actions in the ring speak for him, and they certainly have done so throughout his career, including last time out in October, when he narrowly outpointed Dmitry Bivol to unify the four 175-pound titles to become the division’s first undisputed champion in 25 years — since the legendary Roy Jones Jr. did it in 1999 — in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Now, as Beterbiev heads into an immediate rematch with Bivol in the main event of the loaded Riyadh Season card on Saturday (DAZN PPV, PPV.COM, $25.99, 10:30 a.m. ET), once again in Riyadh, nothing has changed.
Asked this week what his motivation is for the rematch, he was short and to the point.
“I want to defend my belts,” Beterbiev said.
Despite going the distance for the first time as a professional in the first fight he was, obviously, very happy with the outcome — 116-112, 115-113 and 114-114 — in a fight in which every round was seemingly close. The difference was that Beterbiev closed stronger than Bivol by winning the final three rounds on all three scorecards.
But when asked what he learned in the bout, Beterbiev was coy.
“Let’s talk after,” he said. “It’s always different when you see a fight after.”
Beterbiev wouldn’t even give up whether he wanted to score a knockout in the rematch or if he would be content to go all the 12 rounds again.
“We’ll see,” he said, before adding a definitive comment, “Don’t miss our fight, it’s going to be a good fight.”
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Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs), 40, a two-time Russian Olympian, who is now a Canadian citizen based in Montreal, has not really given his viewpoint on the assertion from Team Bivol that his close win was somehow an “injustice,” as Bivol manager Vadim Kornilov has called it.
Beterbiev left it to Brad Jacobs of Top Rank, his promoter, to address that.
“I certainly did not see an injustice,” Jacobs said. “I thought Artur won the fight very closely but won the fight. Clearly, the last three rounds were Artur’s. When you see a classic bout like we did in October, the fans beg to get a rematch. Thanks to His Excellency (Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh) and everyone at Riyadh Season, we now have one. It’s unusual it happened so quickly and it’s a testament to both fighters. We’re looking for another victory for Artur Beterbiev.”
Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), 34, of Russia, desperately wanted the rematch and got it in large measure because Alalshikh, who said he thought Bivol won by two rounds, pressed the issue and got cooperation from Beterbiev.
“Thank you to Beterbiev for giving me a rematch. I’m just thankful and I want to go to the ring and be a winner,” Bivol said. “All athletes want to win. We’re like gamblers and of course I wasn’t a winner. Now I want to win. It’s burning inside of me. I want to change something because I can see where I was wrong and I want to change it.”
Said Kornilov: “This is a great opportunity for us. I thought he was going to win the first time. I thought the fight was very close. Much respect to Top Rank and Artur Beterbiev. Dmitry is more focused than ever. Everybody knows that everything is on the line here and I know that this time he will finish what he started.”
Adames, Sheeraz collide
WBC middleweight titleholder Carlos Adames is the underdog against mandatory challenger Hamzah Sheeraz but is confident he will retain the belt in his second defense on the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol 2 undercard.
“I believe he hasn't fought any fighter with a skill level close to mine,” Adames said this week. “His first real fight is going to be against the best guy in the 160-pound division. I’m sure it will be a very good fight, but it won’t be a decision.”
Adames (24-1, 18 KOs), 30, of the Dominican Republic, was elevated from interim titleholder to full titlist last year when Jermall Charlo was stripped. Adames has defended the full title once, scoring a unanimous decision over Terrell Gausha on June 15 in Las Vegas. He also owns a knockout win against former junior middleweight champion Julian Williams and a decision over former title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko. But Adames has also been very inactive with one fight per year from 2022 to 2024.
Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs), 25, of England, meantime, fought three times in 2024, all on Riyadh Season cards, and scored three knockouts against quality opposition to catapult him to top contender status as he stopped Liam Williams in the first round last February, stopped then-unbeaten Austin “Ammo” Williams in the 11th round on the “5 vs. 5” card in June, and then had a second-round destruction of Tyler Denny to win the European title in September.
Sheeraz expects to now win a world title.
“This is what dreams are made of,” Sheeraz said. “When it comes to this level, listen, I’ve never been a man to say too many words or talk too much shit to be fair. I just go about my business and handle it. Saturday is no different.”
Queensberry promoter Frank Warren has watched as Sheeraz has blossomed.
“Hamzah is in a great fight with Adames, a real good quality champion,” Warren said. “For Hamzah, a really big opportunity. We’re really proud of what he’s done. He’s Queensbury through and through. All he’s ever done from the start is gone out to prove himself. What a great fighter he’s become. Each fight along the way he’s gotten better and better. I think if there’s ever his moment to become world champion, this is it.”
Beterbiev-Bivol II PPV lineup
Light heavyweights: Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) vs. Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), rematch, for Beterbiev’s undisputed title
Heavyweights: Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) vs. Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs), for Parker’s WBO interim title
Lightweights: Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) vs. Josh Padley (15-0, 4 KOs), for Stevenson’s WBC title
Middleweights: Carlos Adames (24-1, 18 KOs) vs. Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs), for Adames’ WBC title
Junior middleweights: Vergil Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) vs. Israil Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs), for Ortiz’s WBC interim title
Heavyweights: Zhilei Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KOs) vs. Agit Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs), for vacant WBC interim title
Light heavyweights: Joshua Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs) vs. Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KOs), for Buatsi’s WBO interim title
Seconds Out appearance
I joined my friends at Seconds Out to discuss Martin Bakole’s last-minute addition to the card to replace Daniel Dubois against Joseph Parker and other aspects of the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol 2 card. Check out the video here:
Ring’s Between The Rounds appearance
Once again I joined the new Ring magazine show “Between The Rounds” along with Todd Grisham and Showbizz The Adult for an in-depth discussion on the stacked Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol 2 Riyadh Season pay-per-view card. We also talked about Canelo Alvarez and other stuff. Check it out here:
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked four fights from the massive Riyadh Season card on Saturday: undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev’s rematch with Dmitry Bivol in the main event; WBO interim heavyweight titlist Joseph Parker’s fight against last-minute replacement Martin Bakole; WBC middleweight titlist Carlos Adames’ defense versus Hamzah Sheeraz; and WBC interim junior middleweight titlist Vergil Ortiz Jr. against Israil Madrimov. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Claressa Shields suspended
The Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission has temporarily suspended Claressa Shields, the consensus No. 1 women’s boxer, for testing positive for marijuana in the wake of a one-sided decision win over Danielle Perkins on Feb. 2 in Shields’ hometown of Flint, Michigan.
Shields said she has never smoked marijuana.
Shields, a four-division champion, three-division undisputed champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, dropped Perkins in the 10th round and won 100-89, 99-90 and 97-92 to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
Shields (16-0, 3 KOs), 29, was suspended, pending a hearing, after an “oral fluid sample” taken after the fight was positive for marijuana, which is banned in competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency but legal recreationally in many areas in the United States and not even tested for by some commissions because it is not performance-enhancing.
“Ms. Shields’ conduct as a licensed professional boxer constitutes an immediate threat to the integrity of professional boxing, the public interest and the welfare and safety of professional athletes,” the Michigan commission said in an over-the-top statement on Thursday.
Mark Taffet, Shields’ manager, pushed back on Michigan’s comments.
“It is absurd that Michigan would say this prior to our due process hearing with them,” Taffet said. “Harmful, dangerous, horrifically inappropriate statement by a government prior to a hearing. I am incredulous. We have very relevant impactful information to share with Michigan. We respect the process. Why don’t they?”
Top Rank undercard
Top Rank rounded the ESPN+ portion of the undercard for WBO women’s welterweight titlist Mikaela Mayer’s rematch with former titleholder Sandy Ryan on March 29 at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.
It will include junior welterweight prospect Emiliano Vargas (12-0, 10 KOs), 20, of Las Vegas, the son of former two-time junior middleweight titlist Fernando Vargas, and Alexandria, Virginia, middleweight Troy Isley (14-0, 5 KOs), 26, a 2020 U.S. Olympian.
Vargas will face Giovannie Gonzalez (20-7-2, 15 KOs), 35, of Stockton, California, in an eight-rounder and Isley will meet Etoundi Michel William (16-1, 12 KOs), 31, of Brazil, over 10.
Also on the prelims: Cleveland’s Tiger Johnson (14-0, 6 KOs), 26, also a 2020 U.S. Olympian, will face San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda (21-8, 9 KOs), 31, in an eight-rounder and junior lightweight Dedrick Crocklem (1-0, 1 KO), 20, a southpaw from Tacoma, Washington, who made his pro debut in his hometown with a second-round KO in January, will face Dionne Ruvalcaba (2-1, 1 KO), 21, of Brownsville, Texas, in a four-rounder. Crocklem signed with Top Rank in December.
Previously announced for the main card will be WBO welterweight titlist Brian Norman (26-0, 20 KOs) in his first defense against Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) and, in the top fight of the preliminaries, featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (14-0, 8 KOs) will fight Jose Enrique Vivas (23-3, 12 KOs) in a WBC title eliminator.
Quick hits
Weights from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the Riyadh Season card on Saturday (DAZN PPV, PPV.COM, 10:30 a.m. ET, $25.99): Artur Beterbiev 175 pounds, Dmitry Bivol 174.1 (rematch, for Beterbiev’s undisputed light heavyweight title); Joseph Parker 267, Martin Bakole TBA (for Parker’s WBO interim heavyweight title); Shakur Stevenson 134.1, Josh Padley 134 (for Stevenson’s WBC lightweight title); Carlos Adames 158.1, Hamzah Sheeraz 159 (for Adames’ WBC middleweight title); Vergil Ortiz Jr. 153.1, Israil Madrimov 152.1 (for Ortiz’s WBC interim junior middleweight title); Zhilei Zhang 287.5, Agit Kabayel 241 (for vacant WBC interim heavyweight title); Joshua Buatsi 175, Callum Smith 174.1 (for Buatsi’s WBO interim light heavyweight title); Ziyad Almaayouf 143.2, Jonatas de Oliveira 141.8; Mohammed Alakel 134.1, Engel Gomez 132.1.
The deal for NBC streaming platform Peacock to air British promoter Boxxer’s cards expired at the end of 2024 and the events that did stream have been removed from the app’s archive. The most recent Boxxer card on Feb. 1 topped by Adam Azim against Sergey Lipinets was announced as a Peacock event but was not on the platform. Boxxer’s March 7 card, Natasha Jonas versus Lauren Price in a women’s welterweight unification, is not slated for Peacock, but Boxxer promoter Ben Shalom told Fight Freaks Unite they are in discussions to stream the April 20 card topped by the light heavyweight rematch between Liam Cameron and Ben Whittaker. In October 2023, they announced a deal that would bring Boxxer’s events to Peacock with select cards to also air on the main NBC network. However, none of the shows, which were simulcasts of the Sky Sports telecasts in the United Kingdom, ever aired on NBC.
Welterweight Jalil Hackett will seek to avenge an upset decision loss to Jose Roman in an immediate rematch on the Matchroom Boxing card topped by middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams against Patrice Volny on March 15 (DAZN) at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida. Highly touted prospect Hackett (9-1, 7 KOs), 21, of Washington, D.C., lost a 10-round split decision to Roman (14-1, 6 KOs), 31, of Puerto Rico, on Dec.7 on the Liam Paro-Richardson Hitchins card in Puerto Rico. Also added to the card is a junior welterweight bout between Jamaine Ortiz (18-2-1, 9 KOs), 28, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and Yomar Alamo (22-3-1,13 KOs), 29, of Puerto Rico, who is coming off an eight-round decision loss to Top Rank prospect Tiger Johnson. Ortiz is seeking a second win in a row after a controversial decision loss to lineal/WBO champion Teofimo Lopez last February.
Show and tell
Heavyweight legend Mike Tyson had been punished and knocked out by champion Lennox Lewis in their long-awaited mega fight and eight months later Tyson returned to the ring, once again at The Pyramid in Memphis, which was the same venue as the Lewis fight. Tyson, now under the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach, was matched with glass-jaw brawler Clifford Etienne for a live Showtime bout. There was much drama ahead of the fight. Roach said he did not think Tyson was prepared for the fight and when Tyson dropped out of touch with his team the fight was called off. Then Tyson, with his freshly inked and now iconic facial tattoo that was the talk of fight week, went to Memphis planning to fight. But by then Etienne thought the fight was off and went out partying in Memphis and said he wouldn’t fight. The next day he changed his mind and the fight was back on. It was utter chaos for those few days.
The fight was over in a blink of an eye. In what turned out to be the 50th and final victory of Tyson’s career, he drilled Etienne with a right hand for a first-round knockout in just 49 seconds, one of the quickest KOs of his career. I wrote all about the craziness of the buildup and was also ringside to cover the fight, which took place on Feb. 22, 2003 — 22 years ago on Saturday. Here is a glossy site poster in my collection.
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Photos: Beterbiev-Bivol and Adames-Sheeraz: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Shields-Perkins: Adam Dewey/Salita Promotions
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Without a union representing the boxer (re: what's legal and what's not) it is in fact illegal to damage the career of a professional boxer for things that are legal or illegal depending on where you happen to be in the moment. No difference for the professional football players and other unions of professional sports and entertainers. Respectfully from the Boxers Organizing Committee (BOC).
Marijuana a performance enhancing drug? If only! I would have been Sugar Ray Robinson with all the pot I smoked while I was boxing in my late teens and early 20s!