1. Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev is a Russian and Canadian professional boxer.
89 Facts About Artur Beterbiev
1. 2.
Artur Beterbiev held the undisputed light-heavyweight championship between 2024 and February 2025.
3.
Artur Beterbiev held the International Boxing Organization and Ring magazine titles during his reign as champion.
4.
Artur Beterbiev reached the heavyweight quarter-finals at the 2012 Olympics.
5.
Artur Beterbiev is particularly known for his exceptional punching power, having won the first 20 of his 22 professional fights by knockout or stoppage after debuting in 2013.
6.
Artur Beterbiev competed as a light-heavyweight and heavyweight in his amateur career.
7.
Artur Beterbiev won the 2006 European Amateur Boxing Championships beating Kenneth Egan and Ismail Sillakh among others.
8.
Artur Beterbiev beat Egor Mekhontsev but lost to two-time world champion Evgeny Makarenko in 2006.
9.
Artur Beterbiev won his professional debut via a second-round TKO over Christian Cruz at the Bell Centre on 8 July 2013.
10.
Artur Beterbiev fought on the undercard of Jean Pascal vs Lucian Bute, beating Gabriel Lecrosnier by TKO on the fourth round.
11.
In December 2014, Artur Beterbiev stopped light heavyweight prospect Jeff Page Jr.
12.
However, Artur Beterbiev was dropped for the first time in a professional fight in the first round of the fight by a straight right to the head.
13.
Artur Beterbiev knocked Johnson down twice in the fifth and a third time in the seventh before finishing him at 1:38 of the round, clobbering him with a left hook and finishing him off with an overhand right that put Johnson through the ropes down and out.
14.
In June 2016, Artur Beterbiev defeated Ezequiel Maderna by round 4 TKO, dropping him four times along the way.
15.
Artur Beterbiev had several title eliminators and world title shots fall through, including bouts against Sullivan Barrera, Igor Mikhalkin, and Sergey Kovalev.
16.
Artur Beterbiev faced long periods of inactivity in a promotional dispute against Yvon Michel.
17.
In July 2017, Artur Beterbiev had yet another world title eliminator fall through.
18.
Artur Beterbiev was scheduled to face Enrico Kolling, with the winner becoming the IBF's mandatory challenger to unified world champion Andre Ward, but the fight was never finalized amidst Beterbiev's contract dispute.
19.
The IBF later announced that the fight between Artur Beterbiev and Kolling would be for the now-vacant world title.
20.
Artur Beterbiev dominated Kolling in a dull fight, walking him down while Kolling refused to engage.
21.
Artur Beterbiev finally scored a knockdown in round 12, as Kolling went down on one knee and received a count.
22.
Artur Beterbiev landed 322 of 1,111 punches while Kolling landed 64 of 252 blows.
23.
In October 2018, Artur Beterbiev fought British champion Callum Johnson in a mandatory defence of his IBF world title in Chicago.
24.
Artur Beterbiev accepted the fight on a co-promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing USA, which was aired live on DAZN in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK.
25.
In March 2019, Artur Beterbiev signed a long-term promotional deal with Bob Arum's Top Rank.
26.
Artur Beterbiev cut the ring off and pinned Kalajdzic against the ropes, landing a flurry of shots to his body and head.
27.
Gvozdyk admitted he was not mentally nor physically ready for that fight, as Artur Beterbiev was an established amateur.
28.
One of the conditions of Artur Beterbiev signing with Top Rank, was to land the unification fight.
29.
Artur Beterbiev had not fought twice in the same year since 2016.
30.
Artur Beterbiev told reporters the knockout was not important and the game plan is to win, whichever way that happened.
31.
Artur Beterbiev applied the pressure in the 10th and Gvozdyk took a knee early in the round.
32.
Artur Beterbiev got up but soon went down again after another flurry from Beterbiev, and the referee warned that another knockdown would mean the end of the fight.
33.
Artur Beterbiev's next move was to get through his mandatory and then to continue unifying.
34.
Artur Beterbiev was scheduled to fight Meng Fanlong on 28 March 2020, but the fight was scrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic.
35.
Only days after the fight was announced, it as reported that Artur Beterbiev had suffered an injury to his ribs following 'technical sparring'.
36.
Artur Beterbiev applied constant pressure throughout the fight which left Deines retreating.
37.
Artur Beterbiev landed 159 of 560 punches thrown and Deines landed only 77 of his 402 thrown.
38.
Artur Beterbiev allowed Deines to land on him more than he should have.
39.
On 20 August 2021, Artur Beterbiev was ordered by the WBC to make a mandatory title defense against Marcus Browne.
40.
Artur Beterbiev's guaranteed purse was $696,150, while Browne was guaranteed $298,350.
41.
At the weigh in, Artur Beterbiev came in at 175 pounds, after initially weighing in at 175.2 pounds, over the limit.
42.
Artur Beterbiev was given two hours to lose the excess weight.
43.
Artur Beterbiev showed tremendous strength and character to continue attacking Browne, to ensure the referee or ringside doctor didn't need to intervene.
44.
Artur Beterbiev pressing on Browne continually, eventually scoring a knockdown in the seventh round from left body shot and the same punch scored him a knockdown in the ninth round.
45.
Artur Beterbiev discussed the cut and did not agree it was accidental.
46.
On 13 February 2022, Top Rank boss Bob Arum revealed that Artur Beterbiev was in ongoing negotiations with WBO light-heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr.
47.
The planned three-belt light-heavyweight unification bout would take place in summer, as Artur Beterbiev would be unable to face Smith Jr.
48.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman further stressed that Artur Beterbiev had been living in Canada for 15 years, held a Canadian passport, Canadian residency, and a Canadian boxing license.
49.
On 19 June 2022, a day after Artur Beterbiev unified against Smith Jr.
50.
Artur Beterbiev expected the WBO to order the fight as a mandatory as Yarde was their number one ranked.
51.
Artur Beterbiev withdrew from the bout on 19 August, due to an undisclosed injury and the fight was pushed back to early 2023.
52.
Artur Beterbiev's trainer said the injury was not serious and he had minor knee surgery following the Smith Jr.
53.
Artur Beterbiev only rested for two weeks before resuming his training.
54.
Artur Beterbiev knocked Yarde down with a counter right hook to an attempted uppercut, which dropped Yarde to his hand and knees at the midway point of the round.
55.
Artur Beterbiev acknowledged his power and believed he still had time to grow in the support and become successful.
56.
Artur Beterbiev was only getting started by the time the eighth round came.
57.
Artur Beterbiev did not do the best job in attempting to avoid Yarde's punches.
58.
Artur Beterbiev went on to explain that Beterbiev was exempt, saying Artur Beterbiev needs to get a petition like Beterbiev did.
59.
On 15 March 2023, Artur Beterbiev was ordered by the WBC to make a mandatory title defense against the former WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith.
60.
Controversy followed in December 2023, when VADA results from urine and blood tests taken from Artur Beterbiev showed "elevated levels of HGH and testosterone".
61.
Hearn did not accuse Artur Beterbiev, but wanted more information as to these raised levels, as further testing, done by VADA showed Artur Beterbiev had normal levels.
62.
Artur Beterbiev went on to say that there was no positive test, or the fight would be cancelled.
63.
Artur Beterbiev was tested three times after the atypical findings, with all tests coming through negative.
64.
Artur Beterbiev weighed in at the 175 pound limit and Smith weighed 174.6 pounds.
65.
In front of 10,031 fans in attendance, Artur Beterbiev won the fight by a seventh-round technical knockout.
66.
The end came in round 7, after Artur Beterbiev dropped Smith following several punches.
67.
Artur Beterbiev got up at the 8-count and continued, only to be hit with more shots to the chin, dropping him a second time.
68.
Compubox showed Artur Beterbiev was more busy and accurate, landing 182 of 471 punches thrown, whilst Smith landed 59 of his 366 thrown.
69.
Artur Beterbiev was expected to face the WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed title on 1 June 2024.
70.
Artur Beterbiev struggled with Bivol's hand speed earlier on, but was able to get through his guard many times.
71.
Bivol was landing combinations, Artur Beterbiev was coming forward and landing one punch at a time.
72.
The tide changed slightly in fifth round which saw Artur Beterbiev getting the better of Bivol, landing his own combinations and in the next round he connected with a body shot.
73.
Bivol and Artur Beterbiev went all 12 rounds making Bivol the first fighter to go the distance with Artur Beterbiev.
74.
Artur Beterbiev became the first undisputed light heavyweight champion in 22 years.
75.
Artur Beterbiev always beat it and it was so hard, even he reached my eye.
76.
Artur Beterbiev's team knew the decision would not be overturned, but rather it was done to help force an immediate rematch.
77.
Angry fans took to social media to voice their disappointment of the news as it would jeopardise a rematch between Bivol and Artur Beterbiev to have all four titles on the line.
78.
Artur Beterbiev said they both know each other in the ring, but assumed Bivol would have a different game plan heading into the rematch.
79.
Bivol's output reduced and Artur Beterbiev was able to out-land him.
80.
Artur Beterbiev's pace slowed down and Bivol began to use his movement and circle around, landing crisp combinations.
81.
Artur Beterbiev stalked Bivol managed to open up a cut on Bivol's left eyebrow.
82.
Artur Beterbiev was credited in landing 170 of 574 punches thrown, while Beterbiev landed 121 of his 688 thrown.
83.
Artur Beterbiev felt, Bivol would win the trilogy more convincingly, if it happened.
84.
Artur Beterbiev was born in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, and is of Chechen descent.
85.
In October 2024, following his win over Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev was made an honorary citizen of the Chechen Republic by the Head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov.
86.
Artur Beterbiev appealed, arguing his contract with Michel had expired in March 2017, then agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Michel.
87.
Artur Beterbiev had entered into new a co-promotional agreement with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing.
88.
However, after one fight under the Eddie Hearn arrangement, Artur Beterbiev left Hearn, and subsequently signed to Top Rank and ESPN.
89.
Artur Beterbiev said that Makhachev and Khabib were Dagestanis and I am a Dagestan.