Artur Beterbiev

For people who follow the current situation in boxing, it has long been no news that the most successful and popular weight category for Russian boxers is light heavyweight. And the main star here is Artur Beterbiev. On December 18, Beterbiev will have to enter the ring again to defend his status. The opponent will be a long-armed and viscous American Marcus Brown. And today's article will introduce you to interesting facts from the life of the Russian champion.

Lived with refugees

Artur Beterbiev was born on January 21, 1985 in the city of Khasavyurt in southern Russia. There were four children in the family, all actively engaged in sports. One of the most memorable childhood events happened to Arthur at the age of about 10 years. During the first Chechen war, many civilians suffered and were left homeless. There was no war in Khasavyurt itself, but a fairly large flow of migrating families passed through it. The Beterbiev family had to shelter refugees at home several times. At times, the number of strangers in the apartment reached 30 people.

"At that time our house was still unfinished, there was no second floor, some rooms, but we still found a place for everyone. The boys in their rooms, the girls in their own - that's how they lived"

Artur Beterbiev

Lost my father early

After the third place at the World Youth Championship, Artur Beterbiev returned home with the team. The father did not really approve of his son's hobbies in boxing, as he wanted him to get a good education. But after this tournament, I can say that I blessed Arthur for the development of his sports career. Five days after these words, Asilbek Beterbiev got into a serious accident, lost a lot of blood, and it was not possible to save him.

"He was carrying passengers, he drove slowly: on the highway about 80 kilometers per hour. Who was next to Dad, they said that he turned the car at the last moment so that the blow fell on him"

Artur Beterbiev

He lived in Moscow on 150 rubles a month

The death of his father hit the Beterbiev family very hard. Arthur even thought for a while to give up boxing altogether, but after gathering his strength, he continued training. The mother persuaded the 16-year-old boy to go to Moscow, where he eventually managed to enroll in the RSUFC. But life in the capital was not so sunny either. The scholarship at the university was only 150 rubles a month, and boxing did not bring any funds at that time.

"It helped that they fed us at the school, gave us a uniform. I usually didn't take the scholarship right away, but waited for a bigger amount to accumulate there."

Artur Beterbiev

Huge amateur experience

Artur Beterbiev's main dream in boxing was Olympic gold. Unfortunately, it was not possible to get him, but there are other significant successes in Beterbiev's track record. In 2006, Arthur went to the European Championship for the first time and managed to win gold. In the final, the technical Ukrainian boxer Ismail Sila was defeated. The second gold of the European Championship will be in 2010. And before that, Arthur will become World Champion and take silver in Chicago. Another Ukrainian boxer, Alexander Usyk, became a stumbling block for Beterbiev's amateur career. During their entire amateur career, the boxers met three times, and only once did Arthur manage to win. One of the two defeats, by the way, was in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games in London, where the Ukrainian eventually took gold.

"What surprised Usyk? He moves well on his feet, constantly in motion, it's hard to hit a running target. But he didn't really surprise me with anything."

Artur Beterbiev

Conflict with Sergey Kovalev

Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev met for the first time at the Russian Boxing Championship in 2007. The score in the duel was in favor of Kovalev, but towards the end Beterbiev managed to take advantage. The victory was given to Arthur, but many were unhappy with this decision. However, there was no conflict between the boxers at that time, it happened much later, when both performed professionally. In March 2015, after a number of successful performances, Arthur said that he plans to continue in the same spirit and expects to meet with Kovalev to "beat him again." Sergey decided not to remain silent and said that the last victory was a "gift from the judges" for Beterbiev. In addition, Kovalev spoke about sparring sessions in which he allegedly constantly dominated Arthur. The conflict between the fighters flared up mainly on the Internet and after the interview. However, they never met in the ring.

"For me, this story is not closed. If we had met in the ring, he would have answered me for his words. But since we are not cowboys to shoot on the street, but still boxers, we did not meet."

Artur Beterbiev

Lives and trains in Canada

Now Artur Beterbiev is a successful boxer and champion, but when he was just starting out as a professional, signing a contract with a promoter was a problem. Having received no interesting offers in Europe, Beterbiev decided to try his luck in Canada and did not lose. Since 2013, Arthur has been living and training in Montreal under the guidance of Mark Ramsey. At first it was hard to get used to, but the boxer adapted and even learned English and a few phrases in French.

"I went to Canada only because of my job. We can say that now I am seconded to Montreal, I am there on a temporary business trip"

Artur Beterbiev

Named the blow in honor of the opponent

Artur Beterbiev is certainly one of the most striking boxers of our time. But in order to drop your opponents, you need not just to have a good shot, but also to have a certain technique. In battle, Beterbiev keeps his hands close to the body and often attacks in short series, which, as you know, are the most unexpected. One of these blows is the right one from below without turning the brush. With it, Arthur knocked out Gabriel Campillo, and Mark Ramsey was so impressed that he has since called such a blow "Campillo".

Beterbiev has a big family

Artur Beterbiev has a really big family. Together with the boxer, his wife, four children and mother live in Canada. Children play sports, go to a local school not far from home and even learn several languages. Arthur's eldest son speaks Russian, Chechen, English and French, which, of course, cannot but surprise. At first, the family was getting used to the new way of life quite hard, but gradually they managed to settle in and adapt.

I had only one fight in Russia

Having moved to the North American mainland in 2013, Artur Beterbiev held all his fights there until March 2021. It was this year that Beterbiev held his first professional fight outside the USA and Canada – in Moscow. The opponent was the German boxer Adam Dines, and the fight ended with a technical knockout in the 10th round in favor of the Russian boxer.

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about a potential duel of the Russian champion against the first line of the pound-for-pound rating Saul Alvarez. Beterbiev declared that he was ready to fight, but so far nothing has progressed beyond conversations. Now the rival of the Russian boxer will be Marcus Brown, and Arthur approaches the confrontation as a clear favorite. Many people say that Brown is literally being thrown to the slaughter of a Russian, and bookmakers give sky-high odds for an American to win. The bookmaker Winline offers to bet on Beterbiev's victory for 1.1, Brown - 7.6.