A fight between two Russians who competed under the flags of other countries took place in Saudi Arabia: Chechen Artur Beterbiev and Kyrgyzstan native Dmitry Bivol. The former won on points and became the absolute light heavyweight boxing champion.
It should be noted that the last time this title was awarded to American Roy Jones was back in 2003. The athlete gave up the belt due to moving up to heavyweight.
Artur Beterbiev is the WBC, WBO and IBF champion. At 39, he became the oldest absolute world boxing champion, writes Sports.ru. The boxer represents the Akhmat sports club.
As for the second participant in the fight, WBA champion Dmitry Bivol, he suffered the first defeat in his career.
From the very first minutes of the fight, the opponents started a real brawl. Beterbiev was more aggressive, forcing Bivol to dodge punches. Gradually, the future winner's advantage became more and more obvious, and his punch in the 5th round noticeably shook his opponent. The latter managed to demonstrate several successful combinations only towards the end of the fight, but this was not enough.
