Artur Beterbiev says his team has made some changes to his training and he expects at least a 10% improvement for his rematch with Dmitry Bival in Riyadh on February 22.

Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) isn't revealing in what areas he's improved, but he thinks it's enough to make the fight more exciting.

10% is good

The look on Beterbiev's face during the interview this week suggested he would relentlessly attack Bivol and force him to either fight or flee. The last time, Beevel escaped, which saved him from being knocked out, but it still cost him the fight. He was very focused on survival.

I suspect that will be his main target this time around once he starts to feel the heat from Beterbiev. Bivol is a good fighter when he's not dealing with anything thrown at him. But when his opponents throw, he shoots or retreats. He always fought that way.

“We have changed some things in training. I hope to be better in this fight than in the first one,” said Artur Beterbiev TalkSport Boxing Regarding his rematch with Dimitri Bivol on February 22nd. “Before I was undisputed, I wanted to get a fourth belt. Now, I want to keep them.

“If I get any offers for this thing, I'll look at them. So far, I have only received an offer for a rematch and I have accepted it,” he said when asked if he would be open to fighting at cruiserweight.

“I can take any fight if I have different offers. I will check with my team,” Beterbiev said when asked if he would be interested in fighting Canelo Alvarez or Joy Opetaya if he beats Bivol.

“28,” when Beterbiev asked how old he was?

Bivol's strategy

He's too old at 34 to change now, and the only thing he could do differently in the rematch is hold back more. Many fighters said he should have done it last. We'll likely see more from Bivol to neutralize Beterbiev's offense.

Last time, Beterbiev started slowly, letting Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) win the first quarter of the fight with his jab and quick left-right combinations.

By the middle of the fight Beterbiev started to be his usual self. In his recent bouts against Malik Zinad, Lyndon Arthur and Gilberto Ramirez, Bival grew in confidence and showed no respect for Artur.

Clearly, Bival misjudged Beterbiev and paid the price as he took over the fight from round six and never looked back. The scores were 115-113, 116-112 for Beterbiev and 114-114.

Interestingly, many fans and fighters are rooting for Bivole to win the fight. They believe he did enough to win the first fight, even as they admit he hasn't won a round since the sixth. They still think he won. Bivol didn't seem to have won.

In order to beat Bival, he will have to fight with more aggression, as Beterbiev is going to put more pressure on him this time. Judges favored Arter's attacking style as Beevel retreated.

“If I have a chance to do 10%, I'll be a lot better,” Beterbiev said Queensberry campaign About how much improvement would make him happy for his rematch with Bivol. “I can't tell you. You will tell Bibhol. I know you talked to Bivol about me,” Beterbiev was asked in which areas he would like to improve.

“I hope and believe it will be an even more interesting fight than the first one, because now we know each other,” Beterbiev said of the rematch with Bivol.