Artur Beterbiev: Fearsome puncher says he will only box for as long as his mother allows ahead of Dmitry Bivol rematch

18 February 2025, 05:42 | Updated: 18 February 2025, 09:27

Artur Beterbiev is the undisputed world champion at light-heavyweight and, at 40 years old, is in the final stages of his career.

But he believes his best performance is still to come.

"I think it's going to be in the future," he told Sky Sports. "Maybe on Saturday, maybe later, we'll see."

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On Saturday's Riyadh Season event, live on Sky Sports Box Office, Beterbiev rematches Dmitry Bivol, who became the first professional fighter to go the distance with him in their undisputed clash last October.

Beterbiev won a close points decision in that first fight, which left Bivol's team in uproar over the result. Now the two rivals will box a second time this weekend to settle the issue.

"They can say anything. I don't care about it," Beterbiev reflected. "My challenge is to do better than last time.

"We needed to learn. We had some mistakes, we needed to correct them. Of course, we learn. We will see, it's coming in a short time, we will see.

"You see something different, why I did this, why I did not do this. Automatically you want to change something."

If he was going to grade his performance in that fight out of 10, he'd give himself "five maybe" and hopes to deliver on Saturday at least a "five and a half".

That he believes will be enough to win. "I want to keep my belts," he said. "It gives me some motivation too but I have my own motivation. I'm always motivated for the next challenge. Any challenge for me is motivation."

He declines to reveal any plans to retire from boxing in the immediate future. "I don't know. So far everything's going well. I feel good. My health is good. I want to continue," he said.

While Beterbiev is one of the most intimidating knockout punchers in the sport, there is one person who could make him stop. He will keep boxing for as long as his mum permits him to.

"Yes, but I think my mum never says that. She gives me this power," he said. "Like any mother, any mother worries about their child. Yes, my mother worries but she supports me. She gave me approval."

Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker and the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol rematch will be live on Saturday February 22 on Sky Sports Box Office. Book now!

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Artur Beterbiev: Fearsome puncher says he will only box for as long as his mother allows ahead of Dmitry Bivol rematch