ARTUR BETERBIEV eats the souls of his poor opponents but insists he is not a monster.
The 39-year-old Russian light-heavyweight has an outrageously vicious 100 per cent knockout record from his 20 perfect wins.
And the WBC, IBF and WBO king is hungry for the scalp of WBA boss and compatriot Dmitry Bivol on Saturday night to crown an undisputed emperor.
A decade on the Russian amateur team, two Olympic attempts that both ended in defeat to the gold winner, and a ruthless streak like no other, have made Beterbiev a machine.
But previous opponents – like battered Brits Callum Johnson, Anthony Yarde and Callum Smith – all spoke of something far more scary being in his arsenal.
When reminded of his fearsome reputation, he told SunSport: “I take their souls? Ha ha ha. I don’t know.
“I think they know better so we need to listen to them.
“They have felt it, so they know. I just do my work, I just follow my instructions.
“I am not a monster. My name is just Artur.”
Beterbiev’s appetite for boxing souls, belts and glory means a sensational clash with 23-0 Bivol is on the menu.
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But the Chechen clubber has a secret recipe for success that he reveals takes away all of his humility for the 12-round shift ahead of him and leaves him a starving savage.
“I stop eating three days before a fight,” he confirmed. “I get angrier and angrier and angrier.
“If I eat, it makes me kinder and I don’t want to be kind.
“I want to be hungry. Then I become a beast.”
If a fighter with a bigger ego or vocabulary was carrying around Beterbiev’s record, belts and terrifying aura, we would never hear the end of it.
But the devout Muslim does not waste a word on bragging about his own brutality or demeaning his prey.
When asked what total supremacy at 12st 7lbs would mean – especially over a decade-long understudy who has tried to usurp him as an amateur and pro – he retained a ruthless dignity.
He explained: “Bivol is a good fighter, he has good experience in amateur and professional.
“He is a good challenge for me. I don’t think about how scary he is
“Everyone is different, everyone has their own opinion.
“But I am not mad at anyone for saying I am just the big puncher. We will see.
“Becoming undisputed, for me, it will mean I am not a bad boxer.”
