They say if you come for the King, you better not miss.
Dmitry Bivol fought as well as he ever has, but he fell agonisingly short in his bid to claim light-heavyweight domination against “King” Artur Beterbiev.
Beterbiev won an excellent fight by scores of 116-112 (Pawel Kardyni), 115-113 (Glenn Feldman) and 114-114 (Manuel Oliver Palomo).
There was not much in it, but the two best 175-pounders of this generation produced an engrossing fight of skill, courage and technical proficiency.
To top off the spectacle, the new undisputed champion Beterbiev felt he could have done better, but Bivol congratulated him on a fine performance. Neither complained about the scores or each other.
Asked how he was feeling afterwards, “Not bad,” responded Beterbiev.
“I did not good today,” he continued. “I didn’t like this fight, but I’ll be better one day. It was not tough, it was a little bit uncomfortable.”
Bivol, who finished with swelling around his left eye, said he still has the dream of becoming the undisputed champion, and simply added: “Congratulations to Artur and his team, he deserves it.”
