The judges scored Sunday’s fight in Riyadh 114-114, 116-112 and 115-113.
The previous encounter last October, when both went toe-to-toe as unbeaten champions, ended with exactly the same score but to Russian-born Canadian Beterbiev who added the WBA belt to his WBC, WBO and IBF ones.
This time, Bivol, 34, was better on the night, moving up a gear and taking the fight to his bearded older opponent, now 40, with determination and classy combinations.
The outcome of a 1-1 draw sets up a foreshadowing third conflict between the two.
“Actually, I didn’t want the second fight, it wasn’t my choice, but no problem. We’re going to do a third fight”, Beterbiev, who did not shake Bivol’s hand, said in the ring after the scores were announced.
Bivol claimed that despite his exertions, he needed a break.
The Russian, who ended the fight by streaming blood from his left eye, said, “I want to heal a little bit and come back.”
“I didn’t have as much pressure like last time. I only wanted to work until the 12th round was over. I succeeded in doing this.
” I was better, I was pushing myself more, I was more confident, I was lighter and I just wanted to win so much today. “
The champion found his rhythm in the fourth round, which was a more intense fight than the first, but with little to separate the two.
No boxer could predict the outcome until the final bell, both anticipating the reading of the scores without anticipating anything.
” I don’t want to talk about the decision – it’s tough. Congratulations to Bivol’s team, “said Beterbiev, who could claim the final round.
” I thought this fight was better than the first fight, but we’ll see. Now is my time to come back. “
Earlier, three-times world champion Shakur Stevenson retained his WBC lightweight title after stopping stand-in Josh Padley, a British electrician who had three days to prepare for the fight, at the end of nine rounds.
In their WBO Interim bout, Joseph Parker, the former world heavyweight champion, stopped Martin Bakole in two rounds.
Source: Aljazeera
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