Ryan Garcia believes Dmitry Bivol should have won that fight against Artur Beterbiev this weekend in what was touted to be one of the greatest matchups in boxing history with two unbeaten fighters taking each other on with their titles on the line. And he blames the judges!
However, Bivol did not give any excuses for his loss, he only congratulated his opponent after the fight. Despite this, the banned boxer believed judges ‘robbed’ the boxer of a rightful victory. This isn’t the first time a judge’s decision has been questioned by athletes.
Earlier this year, when Tyson Fury defeated Francis Ngannou, a very vocal section of fans had been riled up against what they perceived as inherent bias against the former UFC heavyweight champion.
But the frequency of ‘faulty’ judges’ card has increased manifold in all of combat sports, to a point where almost every second UFC event has a fight that somehow the judges have a different perspective on than the rest of the fans.
Coming back to Bivol vs. Beterbiev, during the fight, ‘KingRy’ kept tweeting about how he thought the fight was playing out. But shocked by the result, after the fight, he called out the referees for their decision,
“Bivol wins!!!”
He then added,
“Wow robbery if you ask me.”
Now, despite the loss, Bivol has become the first man to put an end to Beterbiev’s 100% KO record. He put on a valiant effort and the marauder of a boxer but the champ put constant pressure on him, pushing him back the entire fight. The judges then scored the fight a unanimous decision victory in favor of Beterbiev, which is what shocked fans.
So now, they are also crying foul, claiming Bivol got robbed while some believe the judges’ scorecards do not depict the way the fight played out. However, it seems Bivol is not as reactive as his fan base.
After the fight, the Russian fighter congratulated Beterbiev and spoke about his future plans in boxing.
Bivol congratulates Beterbiev
Dmitry Bivol is a class act even in the face of defeat. He suffered his first loss in 23 professional fights and made absolutely no fuss about it.
During his interview in the ring, he spoke about how he did not want to say anything about his loss because it would sound like an excuse,
“I am a warrior… I don’t have any explanation because it could look like excuses. I just congratulations to Artur and his team. He deserves it.”
With Artur Beterbiev now holding all the titles at light-heavyweight, the only fight that makes sense for Bivol would be to ask for an immediate rematch.
However, he did not make any immediate callouts and instead asked for some time to make a decision about his future in boxing. Now, that is a smart man. It’s still very likely that fans will get to see a rematch between the two, especially given the nature of the fight and the crowd reaction to being completely invested in it.
But right now is the time to pack it up and figure out what could have been done differently, recover and then aim for a 2025 fight again!
