Unbeaten Beterbiev beats Brown
Artur Beterbiev's (17-0, 17KOs) face was a bloodied from the fourth round on Friday night, December 17, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, which was the result of a clash of heads, but he wouldn't be deterred. Blood poured freely into his eyes from bad cut on his forehead, but it only seemed to anger and motivate the hardened Russian.
36-year-old WBC and IBF light-heavyweight world champion Beterbiev floored challenger Marcus Browne (24-2, 16KOs) with a left hook to the body followed by a right hand in the seventh stanza before finishing off the New Yorker with a series of body shots in the ninth, scoring a knockout victory to retain his WBC and IBF light heavyweight titles.
"I'm happy to win," said Beterbiev. "We're ready for any fight; we're looking for the best. To be the best you have to beat the best."
Beterbiev started strongly, boxing off the back foot and staying out of harm's way, but it was only a matter of time before the only world champion with a perfect KO record released damaging punches that met their mark.
After the accidental head-butt left Browne with a cut over his right eye and Beterbiev with a gash in between the eyes, the champion sensed the urgency and with good reason: He was behind on two of three scorecards at the time.
Beterbiev, a 36-year-old native of Russia and resident of Montreal, began to string punches together in succession, unloading to the body and head. With blood pouring down his face and onto his chest, he looped punches around Browne's gloves and was relentless in his attack.
Browne, ESPN's No. 8 light heavyweight, attempted to keep Beterbiev at bay with his southpaw jab, but resistance was futile. Beterbiev continued to march forward and let his hands go. He rocked Browne, 31, toward the end of Round 5 and stunned him again in the waning moments of the following round.
After the knockdown in Round 7, Browne was no longer able to evade Beterbiev's shots. A body-blow combination punctuated by a right uppercut to the head forced the Staten Island, New York native to his knees once more in Round 9, and Browne received the count of 10 before rising to his feet.
With the victory, Beterbiev remains the only champion in boxing with a 100% knockout record. It was just his second fight since he unified titles with a TKO victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019.
Browne, a 2012 Olympian, has lost two of his past three fights, the other a technical decision to Jean Pascal in August 2019.
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