Artur Beterbiev signs with Top Rank

Boxingnews24.com

By Jim Dower

IBF World light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) has signed with Top Rank, according to Chris Mannix. If Top Rank can get Beterbiev busy by fighting him 3 times a year, it would be a major bonus, since he’s not been getting the most out of his potential in the last 2 years.

It’s unclear whether this move by the 33-year-old Beterbiev will help his career or not. Beterbiev captured the vacant IBF light heavyweight title last November in stopping Enrico Koelling in the 12th round. That was Beterbiev’s first fight in 11 months since his 1st round knockout win over Isidro Ranoni Prieto. Beterbiev has done zero since winning the IBF 175 lb. title last November. He doesn’t have a fight scheduled.

Now that Beterbiev has signed with Top Rank, the obvious fights that come to mind for him would be matches against other fighters in the stable. Top Rank boss Bob Arum likes to match his fighters against each other. So, by adding Beterbiev to his promotional company, Arum can possibly put him with Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and Jesse Hart. Those are all Top Rank guys. It’s unlikely Top Rank will be able to put together a fight between Beterbiev and WBC 175 lb. champion Adonis Stevenson, WBA champion Dmitry Bivol or WBO champion Sergey Kovalev.

We’ll have to see what choices are available to Beterbiev. If all Beterbiev can do is fight Gvozdyk, Ramirez and Hart, it would be a disappointment. It’s unlikely that Top Rank will match Beterbiev against Ramirez though, because they’re trying to turn him into a star in the U.S, and thus far the progress has been glacially slow. Ramirez is no closer to becoming a star than he was 2 years ago. The match-making has a lot to do with that. Putting Ramirez in with no name fighters like Habib Ahmed isn’t exactly the smartest move if you’re trying to turn him into a star.

Adding Beterbiev to the Top Rank roster can make it easy for the company to get Gvozdyk a title shot if they want to go that route for the IBF strap instead of waiting for a crack at WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson. Beterbiev might be a little too dangerous for Gvozdyk though. If Beterbiev knocks out Gvozdyk, then Top Rank would be stuck with a fighter in his early 30s, who has nowhere to go. Gvozdyk likely would be beaten by Kovalev and Bivol. If Beterbiev beats Gvozdyk, then it puts his career in bad shape.

Beterbiev is a 2-time Russian Olympian. He turned pro in 2013 and breezed through his first 12 fights. Beterbiev suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out of the ring from 2016 until his fight with Koelling last November. Beterbiev looked slow and not particularly impressive in the Koelling fight. He let Koelling last until the 12th round before he finally put him away.

If Top Rank can work with other promoters to match Beterbiev against the best, then this will be a good career move for him signing with them. But if all Beterbiev is going to do is fight Gvozdyk, Ramirez and Hart, it won’t be a good move. Ramirez and Hart 168 pound fighters without a fan base. Gvozdyk has no fan base either at 175. Beterbiev needs to be fighting guys like Kovalev, Stevenson and Bivol. Defending against Gvozdyk, Ramirez and Hart is a waste of time.

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