Artur Beterbiev's trainer sees no sign of decline in champion ahead of Dmitry Bivol undisputed clash

Artur Beterbiev’s trainer believes his fighter is only getting better with age, despite the light heavyweight champion approaching 40.

The unified champion who holds the IBF, WBA and WBO belts, is 40 next year, and some have observed that in his last fight against Callum Smith, he was not at his best despite stopping the Briton in the seventh round.

It is rare for any fighter to stay in their prime beyond their early 30s, but the Canadian-Russian boasts an unbeaten record, with all 20 of his wins coming via stoppages.

Beterbiev has long been linked with an undisputed clash with another undefeated light heavyweight, WBA champion Dmitry Bivol, but the veteran wanted to schedule a fight after this year’s Ramadan, and the two now go head-to-head on June 1 in Saudi Arabia, to top a card preceded by Matchroom-Queensberry’s 5-v-5 card.

Marc Ramsey trains Beterbiev and told BoxingScene.com that his charge was not worried by the time it took to get the fight over the line.

“It's going to be a very important fight,” Ramsey said. “There is nothing personal here for Artur. He just wants to beat the guy in front of him and at the end of the day he just really wants to win. This is his main thing, he is just very competitive. He is always training and in the gym.

“There hasn’t really been any frustration. We’ve just been waiting and waiting.”

Ramsey is unconcerned by Beterbiev’s advancing years, believing he continues to hone his craft.

He explained: “They are hoping that one day Artur is going to get old, but he is just getting better and better. Now the time has come where a promoter has stepped forward.

“Artur will never wait for anyone, he will just do the fight we have to do. He doesn’t really follow boxing that much.

“He didn’t know who Callum Smith was before we faced him. He doesn’t really care who he is fighting, he just wants to perform.”

Beterbiev’s showing against Smith was much more one-sided than his previous win against a British fighter, against Anthony Yarde, and Rasmey shrugged off any concerns.

“We see no slowing down in his metabolism in the gym,” Ramsey claimed.

“He is still training with the same good quality work, with the squats, the bench press and the sparring. We just don’t see any slowing down with him! The Callum Smith fight went exactly how we planned.”

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