Russian-born Canadian Artur Beterbiev has been crowned boxing’s first undisputed light-heavyweight world champion in more than 20 years after beating Russian rival Dmitry Bivol on a majority points decision in Saudi Arabia.
Both were previously undefeated before the fight in Riyadh, with 33-year-old Bivol holding the WBA belt and Beterbiev, 39, the reigning WBC, WBO and IBF champion.
The headline clash at the Saudi capital’s Kingdom Arena, postponed from June after Montreal-based Beterbiev suffered a knee injury, put the four recognised major belts in the hands of one man for the first time.
The last undisputed light-heavyweight champion was American Roy Jones Jr. who beat Reggie Johnson to unify the WBA, WBC and IBF belts in 1999.
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 Bivol 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 judges scored it 115-113, 116-112 for Beterbiev, with a third judge scoring it as a 114-114 draw.- with The AP
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