Boxing Junkie staffers are trying to have some fun while the sport is on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic.
One of the questions fans love to ask even amid a busy schedule is, “Who would win if …?” With that in mind, we decided to create our own “Who Wins?” feature, in which we pit a single fighter against each of five potential opponents and indicate who we believe would win the fights.
We started the series with our No. 1 boxer pound-for-pound, Vasiliy Lomachenko, and moved down the Boxing Junkie list to No. 2 Terence Crawford, No. 3 Canelo Alvarez, No. 4 Naoya Inoue, No. 5 Oleksandr Usyk and No. 6 Gennady Golovkin, No. 7 Errol Spence Jr., No. 8 Tyson Fury, No. 9 Juan Francisco Estrada and No. 10 Mikey Garcia.
No. 11 Artur Beterbiev is next.
In this installment of Who Wins?, our staffers’ give their takes on how Beterbiev would do against Dmitry Bivol, Jean Pascal, Gilberto Ramirez, Badou Jack and Canelo Alvarez. We then tally Beterbiev’s record in those fights and present our standings.
Beterbiev has built a reputation as a capable boxer with uncommon strength, as his 100% knockout percentage suggests. He unleashed his full destructive power in his most-recent fight, breaking down and then brutally stopping then-unnbeaten Oleksandr Gvozdyk in the 10th round in October.
We want to acknowledge that the choice of possible opponents is subjective. We’re looking for the best possible but also realistic foes for our featured boxers. One caveat: We won’t consider promotional and managerial rivalries that often stand in the way of the best matchups. And we’re operating under the assumption that none of our featured boxers will fight with ring rust as result of their forced coronavirus-related layoff.
The plan is to work our way down our pound-for-pound list each day. That means our featured fighter tomorrow will be No. 12 Josh Taylor.
So here goes: Beterbiev vs. his five potential opponents.
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BETERBIEV (15-0, 15 KOs) VS. BIVOL (17-0, 11 KOs)
Rosenthal: This could be Beterbiev’s most-difficult fight. Bivol has demonstrated his superior skill set against one quality opponent after another the past few years. He’s an excellent boxer, maybe good enough to expose whatever limitations Beterbiev might have. The question is whether he can weather the Beterbiev storm for 12 rounds. The guess here is he can’t. Beterbiev by late KO.
Frauenheim: Bivol is technically proficient. He knows his way around, moving across the ring on educated feet that take him in and out of harm’s way. But he lacks power, or at least enough of it to keep the heavy-handed Bertebiev off him. Beterbiev cuts off ring and wins by a late-round stoppage.
Nam: Dmitry Bivol has the discipline, conditioning and quickness to outpoint Beterbiev, which is what you need to do against a bruiser like Beterbiev. It won’t be an aesthetically pleasing fight, but Bivol’s effective in-and-out motion will see him win the majority of rounds. As long as he can wade through a few big punches, Bivol wins on points.
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BETERBIEV VS. PASCAL (35-6-1, 20 KOs)
Rosenthal: Pascal deserves a lot of credit for beating Marcus Browne and Badou Jack in succession, which made him a major player again after many had written him off. That doesn’t mean the 37-year-old can compete with Beterbiev. He can’t. Pacal relies on his power to win fights and he simply doesn’t measure up to Beterbiev in that department. Beterbiev by sixth-round KO.
Frauenheim: Pascal fought his way back into the title mix with victories over Marcus Browne and Badou Jack. He’s athletic. But his record includes tough bouts against the best at 175 pounds, everybody from Sergey Kovalev to Bernard Hopkins. Wear and tear are evident, too much to withstand Beterbiev for 12 rounds. Beterbiev, late stoppage.
Nam: Pacal is riding an impressive two-fight win streak over top light heavyweight contenders Marcus Browne and Badou Jack, but against Beterbiev he will be fresh out of luck. The only chance is for Pascal to land his unorthodox overhand right. But if Beterbiev, whose chin has prompted some questions in the past, evades them, he will batter the veteran into submission before the sixth round.
BETERBIEV VS. RAMIREZ (40-0, 26 KOs)
Rosenthal: Ramirez has a gaudy record, including a reign as a super middleweight titleholder. That’s impressive. However, the lanky Mexican — who has fought only once at 175 pounds — has neither neither the special skill set nor the punching power to cope with a beast like Beterbiev. Ramirez will have some success early but he’ll eventually wilt under the weight of Beterbiev’s punches and not reach the final bell.
Frauenheim: Ramirez, longtime super middleweight champ, has fought only once at light heavyweight. In April, he stopped Tommy Karpency, who came into the ring with seven losses. Ramirez hasn’t fought since. He looked comfortable in his debut. But his long upper-body is a big target for Beterbiev’s lethal right. Beterbiev, middle-round stoppage.
Nam: Ramirez is talented but his inactivity and inexperience at light heavyweight makes him a considerable underdog here. The southpaw is effective at both distance and range, but the latter will quicken his demise. Beterbiev will bully Ramirez en route to a late stoppage.
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BETERBIEV VS. JACK (22-3-3, 13 KOs)
Rosenthal: This could be Beterbiev’s toughest fight among the five here. Jack doesn’t have unusual punching power but he’s a clever boxer with a load of experience at the highest level. He might be good and resilient enough to give Beterbiev problems — for a while. Beterbiev will take firm control in the middle rounds, wear Jack down and win a clear decision.
Frauenheim: Jack is tough. He’s also scarred. He needed about 100 stitches for forehead gash suffered in loss to Browne. There was no rupture of the scar in a subsequent loss to Pascal. But Beterbiev’s right lands at higher velocity and with heavier impact than anything thrown by Pascal. Beterbiev wins a punishing, perhaps bloody decision.
Nam: Jack’s tendency to start slowly and waffle his way to split-decision losses and draws makes him especially vulnerable here. Beterbiev stops Jack before the final bell.
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BETERBIEV VS. ALVAREZ (52-1-2, 36 KOs)
Rosenthal: This fantasy fight would not end well for Alvarez. The Mexican superstar had enough trouble with a faded Kovalev before finally stopping him in the 11th round to win a light heavyweight title. Beterbiev is well-schooled, unusually strong 175-pounder in his prime. Alvarez was smart to move back down in weight. Beterbiev by eighth-round KO.
Frauenheim: A fight the public wants to see. For a while, it also sounded as if it were a fight that Canelo would do. But he quickly backtracked, relinquishing the light heavyweight belt he won by KO over Kovalev. Canelo sees in Beterbiev what everyone else has. Nobody at 175 pounds can beat him right now. Beterbiev, unanimous decision.
Nam: Don’t expect Alvarez to challenge Beterbiev anytime soon. The Russian is a bridge too far. Moreover, Alvarez is not a true light heavyweight despite his stoppage of Sergey Kovalev, who was, of course, washed up. Alvarez’s elite skills will only get him so far before Beterbiev mauls him to the canvas for a late stoppage.
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THE FINAL TALLY
Artur Beterbiev: 14-1 (11 KOs)
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THE STANDINGS
Canelo Alvarez: 15-0 (6 KOs)
Naoya Inoue: 14-0-1 (5 KOs)
Vassiliy Lomachenko: 14-0-1 (4 KOs)
Artur Beterbiev: 14-1 (11 KOs)
Tyson Fury: 14-1 (8 KOs)
Terence Crawford: 14-1 (3 KOs)
Errol Spence Jr.: 13-2 (6 KOs)
Oleksandr Usyk: 10-5 (2 KOs)
Juan Francisco Estrada: 9-5-1 (1 KOs)
Gennadiy Golovkin: 9-6 (5 KOs)
Mikey Garcia: 7-8 (0 KOs)
Read more:
Who wins? Vassiliy Lomachenko vs. five potential opponents
Who wins? Terence Crawford vs. five potential opponents
Who wins? Canelo Alvarez vs. five potential opponents
Who wins? Naoya Inoue vs. five potential opponents
Who wins? Oleksandr Usyk vs. five potential opponents
Who wins? Gennadiy Golovkin vs. five potential opponents
Who wins? Errol Spence Jr. vs. five potential opponents
Who wins? Juan Francisco Estrada vs. five potential opponents
Who wins? Mikey Garcia vs. five potential opponents