Bivol robbed there. Of course Beterbiev is going to have favoritism in Saudi.
To be fair even Turki Alalshikh said he didn't agree with the decision.
“This was one of the great fights of the last 20 years I think, but I don't think the result was fair, in my opinion. The two fighters are like my brothers, but I think Bivol won two rounds more. I will focus and I will try to do the rematch."
Personally watching it live i felt Bivol edged it. I can't see how he didn't win at least 6 rounds so a draw at worst and no way he should've lost. In a close fight though it only needs a couple of judges to score a couple of rounds the other way and a 7-5 Bivol becomes a 7-5 Beterbiev. The 116-112 scorecard seems very harsh though. Also looking at the fighters reactions at the end i felt like Beterbiev thought he'd lost, looked a bit dejected standing in his corner.
Full credit to Bivol though, he didn't moan, said he's not making excuses, just accepted it and said we move on and wants a rematch.
Overall it's a shame there's controversy as i thought it was an incredible fight, one of the best i've seen in recent years and they have to do it again.
It was a great fight two men who are genuinely elite at what they do, doing what they do. I felt Bivol won but I'm not going to get on the judges backs too much. Its the problem with scoring fights being totally subjective to the individual judge and the fuckers don't tell anyone what they like to see. For 2 of them clearly it was whoever finished the round strong gets the nod, I dont think that's fair or how to score a fight else the fights would be 12 x 25 second rounds.
I didnt see it live but watched back the Wardley v Clarke fight, a proper finish that but think for a second or ten. Fabio Wardley was on the circuit of white collar boxing, imagine coming up against that wrecking ball when you were just trying to fulfill a lifes goal and raise a few quid for charity on the downtime from your day job
Even though I slightly fancied Beterbiev to win on points and was prepared to put a score on it, I felt Bivol won by at least 3 rounds. Not complaining mind.
Currently watching the title fight from Japan on sky, and the co-main event had open scoring so the corners and commentators can see who's winning throughout the fight.
That would definitely have changed Bivol's approach to the last 2 rounds last night.
Comments
Must have judged on walking forwards rather than actual punches landed.
“This was one of the great fights of the last 20 years I think, but I don't think the result was fair, in my opinion. The two fighters are like my brothers, but I think Bivol won two rounds more. I will focus and I will try to do the rematch."
Personally watching it live i felt Bivol edged it. I can't see how he didn't win at least 6 rounds so a draw at worst and no way he should've lost. In a close fight though it only needs a couple of judges to score a couple of rounds the other way and a 7-5 Bivol becomes a 7-5 Beterbiev. The 116-112 scorecard seems very harsh though. Also looking at the fighters reactions at the end i felt like Beterbiev thought he'd lost, looked a bit dejected standing in his corner.
Full credit to Bivol though, he didn't moan, said he's not making excuses, just accepted it and said we move on and wants a rematch.
Overall it's a shame there's controversy as i thought it was an incredible fight, one of the best i've seen in recent years and they have to do it again.
I didnt see it live but watched back the Wardley v Clarke fight, a proper finish that but think for a second or ten. Fabio Wardley was on the circuit of white collar boxing, imagine coming up against that wrecking ball when you were just trying to fulfill a lifes goal and raise a few quid for charity on the downtime from your day job
That would definitely have changed Bivol's approach to the last 2 rounds last night.