Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Artur Beterbiev debuts as his record,

For as great as unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev has been throughout his 11-year pro boxing career, like a fine wine, the native of Russia continues to get even better with age. 

The perfect showcase of that belief came in January when he defended his trio of 175-pound world titles against former super middleweight champion Callum Smith in Quebec. Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs), whose all-action brawl with Anthony Yarde last year had some questioning whether he was slowing with age, was thoroughly dominant in just about every category en route to a seventh-round TKO win. 

On the verge of turning 39, Beterbiev has come an exceedingly long way from the early days of his pro career, which began late due to a long and successful amateur reign. For as dominant as Beterbiev has always been — he has finished all 20 professional opponents — the commitment he has shown to his craft has only become more pronounced as he gets older in age. 

Beterbiev in 2024 has quicker feet and hands than he once did. And along with his frightening power, which has been there since the beginning, everything from his IQ to his timing has only increased as he has ramped up his level of competition. 

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Now, as Beterbiev closes in on a long-awaited undisputed clash with unbeaten WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol, which will likely take place this spring in Saudi Arabia, it’s time to start questioning how we might look at the Montreal resident should he pass what’s expected to be the most difficult test of his career in the same manner in which he ran through Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Joe Smith Jr. in unification fights over the past four years. 

Beterbiev likely doesn’t have enough…