The rationale for Artur Beterbiev’s victory over Dmitry Bivol on the scorecards aggravated Vadim Kornilov.
Two months earlier, Israil Madrimov, another boxer Kornilov manages, lost a unanimous decision to an undefeated opponent, Terence Crawford. Kornilov contended during a post-fight press conference early Sunday morning in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that judges credited Crawford for counterpunching a more aggressive Madrimov while moving backward.
Kornilov doesn’t think the same judging principle applied when it was his fighter, Bivol, that boxed effectively off his back foot against Artur Beterbiev in their closely contested light heavyweight title unification fight at Kingdom Arena. A feisty Kornilov took particular exception to Polish judge Pawel Kardyni scoring their 12-rounder 116-112 for Beterbiev, who won eight rounds on Kardyni’s card.
Beterbiev beat Bivol by majority decision in part because American judge Glenn Feldman also favored Beterbiev by the score of 115-113. Feldman and Kardyni overruled Spain’s Manuel Oliver Palomo, who scored Beterbiev-Bivol a draw, 114-114.
“From looking at the scorecard, you know, Pawel Kardyni, after he comes back from Chechnya, he should be suspended,” Kornilov said. “That’s my opinion. Because obviously, you know, there’s something going on. He’s always done well, actually, in previous fights. So, whatever happened here, it’s outrageous.”
Kornilov jokingly referenced Chechnya because Beterbiev hails from that region of Russia, the country Beterbiev left for Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 11 years ago, following his second Olympic appearance. Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), who also spent the majority of his life residing in Russia, was reluctant to box Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) in Quebec because he didn’t think he would’ve been treated fairly on the scorecards.
Bivol was much more accepting of his lone loss than Kornilov, who believes Bivol’s performance warrants an immediate rematch with the unbeaten IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC/WBO 175-pound champion.
“When Madrimov’s beating up Crawford and Crawford’s counterpunching, they’re saying, ‘Oh, he had a counterpunching masterclass,’ ” Kornilov said. “When Bivol’s moving back and landing the cleaner shots, it’s ‘Oh, you should be more aggressive. You should be coming forward.’ There should be some objectivity, you know? The rematch has to happen, but it’s not even that.
“People have to start talking about the judges, because I’m looking through Twitter. Most of big press publications, a lot of the journalists are saying they at least saw this fight a draw. And as soon as the journalists keep on talking about that, but keep on going [on about] why that happened, why the judges did that, at least that’s gonna bring some exposure to the situation.”
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), an American from Omaha, Nebraska, beat Uzbekistan’s Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) on the cards of Canada’s Benoit Roussel (115-113) and Americans Fernando Villarreal (116-112) and Steve Weisfeld (115-113) on August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing promotes Bivol and Madrimov. England’s Hearn wasn’t as hyperbolic as Kornilov when he spoke during the press conference, yet he, too, can’t comprehend how Bivol didn’t get credit for an “absolute masterclass” while fending off a dangerous knockout artist who was taken the distance for the first time in his professional career.
“I’m not saying it’s a robbery of a decision and he won it 9-3,” Hearn said. “But I don’t see how you can give Artur Beterbiev six rounds in that fight. I certainly don’t see how you can give him seven rounds in that fight.”
Bivol, who lost the WBA light heavyweight title to Beterbiev, gave Beterbiev credit for defeating him. The 33-year-old former champion criticized his own performance rather than questioning the judges for favoring his opponent’s aggression throughout their DAZN Pay-Per-View main event.
“I felt like I was [landing] more clean punches,” said Bivol, who had swelling beneath his left eye. “But boxing is not about only more clean punches. It’s about pressure also, about how you impress judges and you need to [count] sometimes rounds, not punches. To be honest, I don’t like excuses, explanations. You know, my philosophy is to be perfect, to not answer on questions – Why you did this? Why you did that? – and have some excuses. I feel shame if I’m trying to explain [to] you why I didn’t win this fight. Just I didn’t win, and that’s it.”
