Artur Beterbiev has become known as one of the most fearsome men in boxing, but even he has been sent crashing to the canvas.
Artur Beterbiev tasted defeat for the first time in his latest fight, making his feud with Dmitry Bivol one win apiece, with a Bivol vs Beterbiev trilogy expected to come next.
Prior to facing Bivol, Beterbiev had a 100% knockout rate, making Bivol the first man to go the distance with him in their first fight, before being the first to beat him in their second.
Despite losing only to Bivol, Beterbiev has been vulnerable before, on one particular occasion back in 2018.
Artur Beterbiev was dropped by British underdog
Beterbiev KO’d Enrico Koelling for the IBF light heavyweight title and fresh off this win, made his first defense against British challenger Callum Johnson.
Johnson was 17-0 at the time and had won the British title in his last fight before challenging for the title.
The second round saw Johnson, who was knocked down himself in the first round, pull back the curtain on Beterbiev’s reputation, proving he is not invincible as he sent him down to the canvas with a punishing left hook.
Johnson’s moment of success was short-lived, though, as it was all over in the fourth round as Beterbiev, who beat Usyk once in the amateurs, added an extra knockout to his record.
Artur Beterbiev was behind on judges’ scorecards in final stretch against another British warrior
Years after his clash with Johnson, and his wins over Marcus Browne, Joe Smith Jr., and Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Beterbiev came to London to fight 23-2 Anthony Yarde.
Yarde had lost only to Sergey Kovalev, who KO’d Nathan Cleverly, and Lyndon Arthur, who he beat in their rematch.
The Brit gave a good account of himself, impressing fans with his ability to go toe-to-toe with the Russian.
At the time, Yarde became just the fifth opponent to make it to the eighth round, out of Beterbiev’s 18 fights.
His corner were forced to throw in the towel in the eighth, though, after Yarde was dropped. His team knew Beterbiev was an even tougher man to beat when he smelt blood.
The scorecards show just how close the fight was though, with one judge scoring 67-66 for Beterbiev and the others 68-65 and 67-66 to Yarde.