Photos by Amanda Kwok
Friday, December 19, 2014, Artur Beterbiev (7-0, 7 KOs) took on Jeff Page (15-1, 10 KOs) in a Light Heavyweight bout live on Showtime.
The 10-round bout was fought for Beterbiev’s NABA light heavyweight title as well as the vacant WBO/NABO and IBF North American light heavyweight titles.
Coming off of a two-round blitzing of former champion Tavoris Cloud, many people expected Beterbiev to come out guns blazing. Beterbiev started the fight with his hands held low, stalking his opponent, Page.
The relatively unknown Page, showed good athleticism in Round 1 and moved around the ring pumping the jab often, keeping his big punching opponent off balance.
Towards the end of the round, Beterbiev surprisingly walked in to a nicely placed right hand which floored him.
Beterbiev rose to his feet and didn’t look stunned or hurt, but he was definitely clocked cleanly.
Beterbiev, perhaps looking to shake off the cobwebs, came out a lot more aggressive in Round 2 and scored a knockdown of his own early on.
After being dropped for the first time in his career, things went south quickly for the Kansas native, Page.
Beterbiev walked Page down for the remainder of the round, scoring two more knockdowns and ending the bout at 2:21.
After the fight, Showtime’s Jim Gray asked Beterbiev if he was surprised at being knocked down in the first round, to which Beterbiev stated that he felt a bit sleepy before the fight and lacked a bit of concentration–if only for a fraction of a second.
Beterbiev also admitted that he has much to learn as a professional, which was refreshing to hear.
