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Topics: Boxing, Boxing News
Marcus Chan
The judges' scorecards from Artur Beterbiev's rematch against Dmitry Bivol have been made public.
On Saturday night, all eyes were fixated on the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as one of the best cards in boxing history took place.
Prior to the weekend, the main event between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker was called off after the Brit was ruled out due to illness.
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As a result, Beterbiev vs Bivol was promoted to the main event slot, with Parker scoring a second-round victory over Martin Bakole, who replaced Dubois on short notice.
The rematch between Beterbiev and Bivol was one of the most anticipated fights in recent times after their close encounter last year.
In the last fight, Beterbiev won on points after 12 rounds of stellar action inside the ring and became the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion since Roy Jones in 1999.
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This time around, the pair produced yet another stunning performance as the fight was again too close to call.
After 12 pulsating rounds, the judges' scorecards were again needed to determine the winner.
In the end, it was Bivol who came out on top via a majority decision.
Judge Jean Robert Laine scored the fight as a 114-114 draw, with Mike Fitzgerald (116-112) and Deon Dwarte (115-113) scoring the bout in favour of Bivol.
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As a result, Bivol, 34, is now the undisputed king of the light-heavyweight division having clinched the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF titles.
Speaking after the fight, Bivol said: "I wanted to work from the first round to the end of the 12th. I was better. I was pushing myself more, I was more confident and I was lighter. I wanted to win so much today."
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Meanwhile, 40-year-old Beterbiev, who suffered his first defeat in 22 fights, said: "I didn't want the second fight, it wasn't my choice, but no problem. We can do a third fight if we need to."