Dimitry Bivol has the skills to beat knockout machine Artur Beterbiev

Artur Beterbiev is a knockout machine with a sledgehammer of a right hand, but Dimitry Bivol is a classical boxer who has the skills and impeccable radar to prevail

This is what boxing is all about, a genuine super fight between two unbeaten champions.

The undisputed light heavyweight showdown in Riyadh is the more alluring for their contrasting styles; Artur Beterbiev a knockout machine, Dimitry Bivol a classic boxer.

Credit to Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi royal driving the kingdom’s sporting expansion through boxing. The only obstacle there has ever been to getting fighters in the ring is money. The Saudis have removed that problem at a stroke.

Alalshikh wants to make Saudi Arabia the fight capital of the world, which is great for British boxers since it is only two times zones away, not eight like Las Vegas.

Bivol is a beautifully balanced boxer, great coordination, incredible movement and can punch. He is so difficult to catch clean and gets in and out of range quickly, spraying opponents with rapid combinations.

Beterbiev is not just a knockout artist, he is arguably the most potent finisher of all time. I have never known an elite fighter compile a 100 percent KO record. Nobody escapes.

Like a bunch of fighters past and present I see this as 50/50 as a fight can get. I have gone back and forth a million times over this. I can see how Bivol outboxes Beterbiev, but then I see him on his back courtesy of that devastating right hand.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Do you agree with Barry McGuigan's assessment? Let us know in the comments section.

You might recall how Joe Smith Jnr, their only common opponent, hurt Bivol, and he does not close the show like Beterbiev. Smith Jnr went 12 rounds with Bivol in 2019. Beterbiev smoked him in two rounds three years later.

Beterbiev has been down, dropped by Callum Johnson in the second round of their 2018 meeting, but he got up to finish it in the fourth.

Age might be a factor. At 39 Beterbiev is six years Bivol’s senior. He is a dedicated fighter, teetotal but at some stage father time taps you on the shoulder. Is this the fight where he gets old? Beterbiev hunts you down, throws the jab, and as soon as he connects detonates the sledgehammer.

But we all have a shelf life. Bivol’s in his pomp, and has several ways of winning. Beterbiev has only one. Bivol just has to stay out of trouble, relying on his impeccable radar. Beterbiev will start a marginal favourite but the old tea leaves are telling me Bivol wins on points.

Follow Barry on X at @‌ClonesCyclone and @mcguigan’s_Gym