Favoritism For Bivol: Coach Stephen Edwards Criticizes Scoring And Commentary In Beterbiev-Bivol 2

Coach Stephen Edwards felt that last Saturday’s rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol should have been scored a draw or a narrow 115-113 for either guy. Edwards didn’t understand how one judge scored it 8-4 [116-112] in Bivol’s favor.

(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)

The Scorecard Debate

The judges scored a 12-round majority decision in Bivol’s favor with scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 114-114.

Edwards thinks the judges didn’t give Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) credit for the first round, which he saw him winning. Indeed, the judges were banking all the early rounds in Bivol’s favor, which didn’t match the actual fight. It’s not just the first round. Moreover, the judging crew gave Bivol many rounds that he appeared to lose.

If you’re into conspiracy theories to explain why Bivol was given a win last Saturday night in a fight that appeared to be a 114-114 draw, you can come up with something.

Some fans on social media believe there was an agenda for Bivol to be given the win because, business-wise, there’s potentially more money to be made with him holding the four belts. These are the reasons:

• Canelo Alvarez rematch
• Promoted by Eddie Hearn
• David Benavidez: The Mexican Monster has said he prefers fighting Bivol than Beterbiev
• DAZN: Bivol fights on DAZN

One thing that bothered Edwards was the commentary from the DAZN announcing team that worked the Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 fight last Saturday. He felt that they favored Bivol throughout, even with the replays of the rounds. That’s something I noticed as well.

I had to turn off the sound because what they said didn’t match the actual fight. They all sounded like a section of cheerleaders rooting for Bivol. It was weird. You could tell who they favored, and not just during the fight. Even before the match started, they sounded preferential towards Bivol. It is hard for commentators to hide their bias, but the crew that worked the fight did a bad job of doing it.

Commentary Concerns

“I don’t like the way the [DAZN] announcers favor everything that Bivol does. In the first part of the fight, Beterbiev had a good round, and they were showing highlights of Bivol. The same thing happened in the first fight,” said Stephen Edwards to MillCity Boxing, talking about the favoritism the DAZN commentators showed for Dmitry Bivol in his fight against Artur Beterbiev last Saturday night.

“I was saying to myself, ‘If it’s close, they’re going to give it to Bivol.’ For me, there was no separation between the two. The fight looked like a draw. Down the stretch, I thought Beterbiev won the tenth, Bivol won the eleventh, and Beterbiev won the twelfth.

“The fight was in the balance going down the stretch. I have no problems with 6-6, which is 114-114. I have no problems with 115-113 either way. I felt Beterbiev took over the middle rounds, and Bivol came back on. It was a back-and-forth type of thing. I think Beterbiev wasn’t getting credit for the earlier rounds,” said Edwards.

It was a dead even fight. That’s why it’s disappointing to see two judges get it so wrong and give Bivol an undeserving win. The commentator from the team working the fight on the DAZN broadcast made it sound like total domination for Bivol.

“In the first round, I thought Beterbiev won, but someone said Bivol was up 30-27,” said Edwards. “I felt Beterbiev might have won the first round. Much didn’t happen. It probably was another draw, but I thought Beterbiev was edging it a little bit. Then, when he [Beterbiev] cut him in the last round, I thought it was going to be 6-6 or 7-5.

“I was actually shocked to hear 116-112. Neither guy won eight rounds,” said Edwards about the judge, Mike Fitzgerald, who scored the fight 8-4 in Bivol’s favor.

“The [DAZN] commentators have to be completely objective. I feel like, a lot of times, they’re biased. I feel like they have an agenda. For two fights in a row, they favor Bivol consistently, even with the replays.