Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol: What the numbers tell us about the fight

Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol will fight on Saturday for the chance to become the first undisputed light heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. The last time the division had an undisputed three-belt champion was in 2000 (Roy Jones Jr.). The fight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia will stream on ESPN+ (6:00 p.m. ET).

Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs), a two-time Olympian from Russia, is boxing's only champion with a 100% KO rate and a WBC, WBO and IBF world champion. He has held at least one of the belts since November. November 11, 2017 – a nearly seven-year reign as champion. For Beterbiev, it is the ninth defense of the IBF title, the sixth defense of the WBC title and the third of the WBO title.

“I have to be excited (for this fight),” Beterbiev said during an episode of the ESPN+ show “Undisputed.” “I'm not emotional in front of people, but of course I'm exciting. My goal is to be (undisputed) champion.”

Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs), the No. 1-ranked light heavyweight boxer by ESPN, was the WBA interim light heavyweight champion until he was named full champion in 2017. He has made 12 defenses of the belt, including a unanimous decision win over Canelo Alvarez in May 2022. Bivol is 4-0 in fights against current or former champions.

“When I signed the contract, here’s what I had in mind,” Bivol said during an episode of the ESPN+ show “Undisputed.” “Why I'm signing the contract, what I expect from this professional career. Do I just want to make money to get some couples fights? No. Now what is the reason why I will fight? What is the maximum? The maximum is to collect all the belts. “That’s my maximum.”

While Bivol is a slight favorite to win (-135 per ESPN BET), let's look at the title fight by the numbers, with data from ESPN Stats & Information and CompuBox.

The question of who is the best light heavyweight in the world will be decided on Saturday when Beterbiev takes on Bivol. The winner will be only the 12th undisputed champion in boxing's four-belt era.

21: Beterbiev and Bivol have had several title fights together.

41.9: Percentage of power punches landed by Bivol – 7.8 per round.

13: The percentage of all punches landed on Bivol by his opponents is the lowest of any fighter.

3: Number of Russian-born male boxers who each hold three world titles (Beterbiev, Kostya Tszyu and Sergey Kovalev).

26: Percentage of Beterbiev's combinations thrown are four or more than five punches – 16.3% of which are more than five punches.

31.8: Percentage of Beterbiev's total punches landed per round – 19.4 out of 61.1.

30.8: Percentage of Beterbiev opponents landing powerful punches – 6.6 per round.

65.5: Percentage of Bivols Thrown Punches – Highest ratio of punches to power punches thrown in boxing.

Bivol has proven to be one of the most versatile active boxers. He has the best jab in the business (scoring 8.8 per round) and combines that with fantastic defense. Opponents land just 13% of punches against Bivol (the fewest in boxing) and his plus/minus is +17.8, which is third best in boxing behind Shakur Stevenson and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.

Beterbiev also has an excellent jab (6.4 hits per round) and we know his power and punch combinations. In fact, 26% of Beterbiev's throwing combinations have durations of 4 and 5+ punches, 16.3% of them are 5+ punches.

After a stellar amateur career, Beterbiev turned professional late when he moved to Montreal at the age of 28. He enters the fight against Bivol at 39 years old, making him the second oldest, widely recognized current male champion.

Beterbiev is a two-time Olympian who comes into the fight with a perfect knockout rate in 20 fights and is the only current world champion to have won all of his career fights by stoppage.