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Eddie Hearn was furious with the judges' decision to award Artur Beterbiev the undisputed light heavyweight champion on Saturday night, claiming Dmitry Bivol was “robbed” after losing on points.
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 defeating Bivol on points.
Beterbiev, who had knocked out all of his opponents before Saturday night, won, with one judge scoring it 114-114 and the other two scoring it 115-113 and 116-12 in Beterbiev's favor.
However, not everyone agreed with the scorecards. Hearn found the decision unfair and expressed his views after the event, claiming his man had been “robbed” by the referees.
Hearn said: “I don't want to be disrespectful to Beterbiev, they are two of the best players of our generation, but you saw his team's body language. They were in the corner and knew they lost the fight. 116-112 to Artur Beterbiew. You gave Bivol four rounds.
Controversy has erupted in the boxing world, with several professional fighters taking to social media to claim that Dmitry Bivol was robbed following the decision made against Artur Beterbiev.
Beterbiev pictured with the undisputed belt in Saudi Arabia on Saturday evening
Eddie Hearn felt his fighter was robbed of a decision, which hit the judges' scorecards
This is an absolute joke. It was a seven-five, eight-four fight with Bivol. He directed the fight. At the end of the fight he fired a few rounds but won. They knew they had lost the fight.
“They were telling him in the corner that you have to knock him out to win the fight. I can't believe it. Tonight he was robbed of his undisputed championship title. I can't believe it.
Several famous boxers agreed with Hearn and assessed the result. Ryan Garcia took to social media to write, “Wow, that was a robbery if you ask me.” While Anthony Fowler wrote: “A draw at best for me, Bivol didn't deserve to lose.”
This opinion was echoed by other fighters, including Josh Taylor who wrote: “I thought it was bivol, but it is what it is. Great fight, boxing needs more like this.” Frank Warren added: “What a fight between two high-level operators in their best form, I personally had Bivol!”
While Tony Bellew wrote: “I've got Bivol winning this!” The final round was very close again, but I thought Bivol had the better shots throughout the evening. Great combinations, great fight. Beterbiev was great! He is almost 40 years old, and he finishes fights with the same strength as when he was 20! Well done to both fighters.
He then vented his frustration as he looked through the scorecards, stating: “A great fight that could have ended either way… But the score 116-112 is a disgrace! None of the fighters won this fight by 4 rounds. This is the part that annoys me. Bravo to Artur Beterbiev, he really is a fighter.
Bivol, however, made no excuses, saying: “I don't have any explanations because it might seem like excuses. All I can do is congratulate Artur and his team, they deserve it. No problem. I did my job, I always feel like I could be better, it's just the judges' opinion. Congratulations Artur.'
