Artur Beterbiev

Amateur career

Beterbiev competed as a light-heavyweight and heavyweight in his amateur career. He won the 2006 European Amateur Boxing Championships beating Kenneth Egan and Ismail Sillakh among others. He beat Egor Mekhontsev but lost to two-time world champion Evgeny Makarenko in 2006. In 2007 he beat future unified light-heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev in the semi-finals, and eventually beat Evgeny Makarenko in finals to qualify for the World Championships. In the finals of the World Championships he faced the little-known Abbos Atoev but lost in an upset.

At the Olympics 2008 he beat Kennedy Katende 15:3 then fell controversially to local boxer Zhang Xiaoping who went on to win the gold medal.

In Milan he beat young Cuban Jose Larduet and Uzbek Elshod Rasulov for the 2009 world championship title.

At the 2011 World Championships he lost to eventual winner Oleksandr Usyk by 13–17. At the 2012 Olympics he edged out Michael Hunter but lost again by 13–17 to Usyk. Both of these were in the heavyweight division.

Professional career

Beterbiev won his professional debut via a second round TKO over Christian Cruz at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on July 8, 2013.

Beterbiev vs. Cloud

After winning his first five professional bouts, Beterbiev would face off against former IBF light heavyweight world champion Tavoris Cloud for the vacant NABA Light Heavyweight championship on September 27, 2014. After a tentative opening minute from both fighters, Beterbiev opened up and began landing powerful shots that visibly rocked Cloud. In the final minute, the Russian would drop his opponent three times via devastating and concussive combinations. This was the first time Cloud had ever been dropped in his professional career. Beterbiev would close the show in round two, landing multiple hard shots to the head that knocked Cloud out, giving Beterbiev his first professional title.

Beterbiev vs. Campillo

After stopping light heavyweight prospect Jeff Page Jr. in two rounds, winning the vacant IBF North American and WBO–NABO light-heavyweight titles, Beterbiev would face off against another former IBF light heavyweight world champion, Gabriel Campillo, with his North American title at stake. Both men began cautiously until Beterbiev dropped Campillo late in the first round. The Russian slowly wore down his foe with multiple straight rights to the body. Finally in the fourth, Beterbiev would land a straight/uppercut hybrid that would hit Campillo square on the chin, and followed it up with a perfunctory left hook before walking to his corner while his opponent slid to the canvas, barely conscious. The PSI detector in his gloves stated that the first punch landed with 973 lbs of force.

Beterbiev vs. Johnson

Beterbiev made his record a perfect 9-for-9 with nine knockouts as Alexander Johnson became his latest victim on June 12, 2015 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. Using a vicious overhand right, Beterbiev knocked Johnson down twice in the fifth and a third time in the seventh before getting him for good at 1:38 of the round, clobbering him with a left hook and finishing him off with a booming overhand right that put Johnson through the ropes down and out. With the win, Beterbiev added the vacant WBO International light-heavyweight title to his other four won titles.

Personal life

Beterbiev was born in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, and is of Chechen descent. He currently resides in his adopted hometown of Montreal, Quebec. A Muslim, Beterbiev is married with three children; a son and two daughters. He is promoted by Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) and advised by Al Haymon, following his move to Canada in May 2013.