Eddie Hearn goes on FURIOUS rant claiming Dmitry Bivol was ‘robbed’ after defeat by Artur Beterbiev in light-heavyweight title fight… as fans on social media claim Saudi showdown was ‘rigged’ after judges decision
Eddie Hearn was furious with the judges’ decision to crown Artur Beterbiev the undisputed light-heavyweight champion on Saturday evening, claiming Dmitry Bivol was ‘robbed’ after his points defeat.
Beterbiev became the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the four-belt era and the first undisputed champion of the division since Roy Jones Jr in 2002 after beating Bivol on points.
Beterbiev, who had knocked out all of his opponents prior to Saturday night, was taken the distance with one judge scoring it 114-114, while the other two went 115-113 and 116-12 in Beterbiev’s favour.
However, not everyone agreed with the scorecards. Hearn felt the decision was unjust and made his feels clear after the event – claiming his man had been ‘robbed’ by the judges.
Hearn said: ‘I don’t want to disrespect Beterbiev, they are two of the greatest fighters of our generation but you saw the body language of his team. They were in the corner, they knew they had lost the fight. 116-112 to Artur Beterbiev. You gave Bivol four rounds.
The boxing world has erupted in controversy, with several professional fighters taking to social media to claim Dmitry Bivol was robbed of a decision against Artur Beterbiev
Beterbiev pictured with the undisputed belt in Saudi Arabia on Saturday evening
Eddie Hearn felt his fighter had been robbed of a decision, slamming the judges scorecards
‘This is an absolute joke. It was a seven-five, eight-four fight to Bivol. He was cruising the fight. He gave up some rounds at the end of the fight but he won. They knew they had lost the fight.
‘They were telling him in the corner, you have to knock him out to win the fight. I can’t believe it. He was robbed of the undisputed championship tonight. I can’t believe it.’
Hearn went on to add: ‘I find it sickening that after a lifetime of hard work Dmitry Bivol is not undisputed champion tonight… This judge should never work in the sport again.’
Several high-profile boxers agreed with Hearn and weighed in on the outcome. Ryan Garcia took to social media to write: ‘Wow, robbery if you ask me.’ While Anthony Fowler wrote: ‘Draw at best for me, Bivol did not deserve to lose’.
The sentiment was echoed by other fighters, including Josh Taylor, who wrote: ‘I thought Bivol but, it is what it is. Great fight, boxing needs more of this’. Frank Warren added: ‘What a fight two high level operators at their best, I had Bivol personally!’.
Tony Bellew wrote: ‘I’ve got Bivol winning that! The last round was so close again but I just feel Bivol landed the better shots all night long.. Great combinations, Great fight. Beterbiev was outstanding! Nearly 40 years old and he’s finishing fights as strong as he did when he was 20! Well done to both warriors.’
He went on to vent his frustration over the scorecards, stating: ‘Great fight and it could have gone either way tbh.. The 116-112 is a disgrace though! Neither fighter won that fight by 4 rounds.. this is the part that annoys me. Well done to Artur Beterbiev he’s some fighter he really is.’
Other fans on social media claimed the showdown was ‘rigged’ in frutstration.
However, Bivol made no excuses, saying: ‘I don’t have any explanations because it could look like excuses. I just say congratulations to Artur and his team, he deserves it. No problem. I did my job, I always feel I could be better, it’s just the opinions of judges. Congratulations Artur.’
