Artur Beterbiev vowed to « come back even stronger » as he teased a potential third fight with Dmitry Bivol after defeat in Saudi Arabia.
Russian boxing star Bivol prevailed over his compatriot on points to win the undisputed light-heavyweight world title in a dazzling contest that had fans asking for even more.
Beterbiev, 40, had the better of the early rounds but tired as the fight continued and with scores of 114-114, 116-112 and 115-113, Bivol claimed the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF titles.
With the pair each winning one of their two battles so far, calls have been made for a third fight to decide the better fighter, as Beterbiev opened the door to continuing boxing.
« It was a good fight with a strong opponent, » he wrote on Instagram. « I thank everyone who supported me all the way. But sport is sport. We will definitely come back even stronger.
« God’s plans are always better than ours. Alhamdulillah for everything. »
After 24 rounds of boxing of the highest level, a decider has been demanded by fans, but Beterbiev admitted that he did not even want to take to the stage in Riyadh.
« I didn’t want the second fight, it wasn’t my choice, but no problem. We can do a third fight if we need to, » Beterbiev said after his first professional loss in 22 fights.
« I don’t want to talk about the decision, it’s tough. Congratulations to Bivol’s team. I thought this fight was better than the first fight, but we’ll see. Now is my time to come back. »
Bivol said that he was « ready for any challenge » after avenging his previous defeat.
« I just am so happy, he said, ringside. « I went through it a lot in the last years. Thank you everyone so much. I appreciate everyone so much and everyone who supports me here, thank you.
« To be honest, I lost and I feel a little bit easier maybe. I didn’t pressure too much this time. I wanted to work from the first round to the end of the twelfth. I was better. I was pushing myself more, I was more confident and I was lighter. I wanted to win so much today.
« I told myself he could stay from the beginning to disturb me. It was hard to keep him in the distance and then I saw that he was tired also.
« I had to be smarter and punch more clean punches and I did. Every person in my camp helped me a lot. Everything was on my side. Everyone in my team was important.
« I’m ready for any challenge. I want a little bit of rest because I had some injuries in the summer and this time I had injuries. I want to heal myself and come back. »
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