340K Worldwide Buys Don’t Tell The Whole Story: Why The Beterbiev-Bivol Rematch Failed To Ignite American Fans

The February 22nd Rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol brought in 340K PPV buys worldwide.

The Ring is reporting the pay-per-view buy rate for the Beterbiev-Bivol 2 fight. While those numbers may seem reasonable at first glance, they fail to reveal what the PPV buys for the U.S., arguably the biggest market for the fight.

Those were believed to be low. You can’t celebrate 340K worldwide because that ignores the lack of interest American fans had in this event due to the lackluster headliner. The Beterbiev vs. Bivol rematch was a bad idea.

Boring Bivol

Their first fight was boring to watch, and the fans who remembered how dull it was weren’t interested in seeing a second clash four months later. It’s like seeing a bad movie and being asked to see it again. People don’t want that. The Saudis need to get a clue and understand that fans are NOT interested in seeing Beterbiev and Bivol fight again.

Not enough fans want to see these two battle a third time. The low PPV totals for the February 22nd event tell you all you need to know. People hate this match-up, and it’s understandable why. Bivol is so dull to watch, and Beterbiev has become old and slow. He can’t cut off the ring anymore, and he doesn’t let his hands go like he used to when he was younger.

The event organizers need to understand the market. If they see that a fight is dull and has low PPV numbers, setting up a rematch is not a good idea. With Bivol’s fighting style being awful to watch for U.S fans, it’s only interesting to match guys like him against young killers. Beterbiev, 40, is too slow and old to chase a mover like Bivol around the ring for 12 rounds.

Bivol should have had to work his way into a rematch by fighting one of the top light heavyweight contenders. He should have been on the undercard of the February 22nd ‘Last Cresendo’ event rather than being given a rematch after a loss. He was beaten by Beterbiev in their first fight last October. Like anyone beaten, they should have to get in line and work their way back rather than being given a rematch that U.S fans don’t want to see.

Last Cresendo’s Undercard

• Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
• Shakur Stevenson vs. Josh Padley
• Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel
• Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira

The type of fighters that the Saudis should be matching a boring runner like Bivol against are guys that can cut off the ring and machine-gun him into oblivion, like David Benavidez or someone with power like David Morrell. 40-year-old Artur Beterbiev doesn’t have the youth to chase Bivol around the ring, and fans don’t want to watch those boring fights.