Artur Beterbiev beat Dmitry Bivol by a majority decision to become the first undisputed light heavyweight champion in the division for more than 20 years.
The 39-year-old Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) had won all 20 of his previous fights by knockout but was forced the distance by his fellow Russian rival in Riyadh in the early hours of Sunday morning in a fight that had several swings of momentum and was almost too close to call.
In the end, two ringside judges scored it 115-113, 116-112 for Beterbiev, with a third judge scoring it as a 114-114 draw. (The Guardian had it 114-114.)
The headline clash at the Saudi capital’s Kingdom Arena, postponed from June after Montreal-based Beterbiev suffered a knee injury, put all four major world titles – WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC – in the hands of one man for the first time.
The last undisputed light-heavyweight champion was the Russian-American Roy Jones Jr who beat Reggie Johnson to unify the WBA, WBC and IBF belts in 1999.
More to follow.
English (US)