According to renowned American journalist Jake Donovan, Dmitrii Bivol’s team has filed an official appeal with all four major world boxing organizations (WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF) against the decision made by the judges in last Saturday’s fight against Artur Beterbiev.
The highly anticipated light heavyweight unification bout ended with Beterbiev winning by Majority Decision, becoming the first unified champion in the division’s history in the four-belt era. The draw scorecard from Spanish judge Manuel Oliver Palomo (114-114) was overturned by American Glenn Feldman (115-113) and Polish Pawel Kardyni (116-112).
Bivol’s team argues that the appeal is justified because most observers saw their fighter as the winner, contrary to the judges’ ruling. Indeed, the majority of qualified observers—journalists, fighters, and commentators—were split between a draw and a victory for Bivol on their scorecards. However, there were notable voices in favor of Beterbiev, including famed trainer Teddy Atlas.
The goal of the appeal is to force an immediate rematch. According to Donovan, Bivol’s team has compared the situation to the controversial March 1999 fight between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, which ended in a highly criticized draw. The backlash led to a rematch eight months later.
In truth, last Saturday’s bout was much closer and harder to interpret than the Lewis-Holyfield fight, so the appeal may struggle to find solid legal ground. Nonetheless, this could be a strategy to push harder for a rematch, which seems likely to happen.
Both fighters expressed their willingness for a second bout, and the same Arab promoter, Turki Alalshik, after stating that he thought Bivol deserved the victory, expressed his desire to organize the rematch.