ARTUR BETERBIEV has been crowned the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world after a remarkable chess match.
It comes after a points decision victory against Dmitry Bivol in the main card Riyadh Season fight following years of anticipation for their match.
Both Bivol, 33, and Beterbiev, 39, came into the bout with undefeated professional records.
However, it was the veteran who edged out his younger rival as the fight went the distance.
Bivol exploded into life in round seven to give Beterbiev a scare, but failed to finish the job and allowed his rival to recover.
As the fight went on, Bivol grew into the fight more and more and showed his experience in marathon boxing – with Beterbiev having only ever gone to round 12 once before.
Although Beterbiev was not to be discounted as he found a second wind in the closing rounds.
And that made all the difference as the judges scored the fight as a majority decision victory for The Monster.
The razor thin decision was scored at 114-114 by one judge, while the other two scored it at 115-113 and 116-112 in Beterbiev’s favour.
More to follow.
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