‘He became like an animal’ – Artur Beterbiev had a ride to salvage his knockout streak after suffering a bad cut against Marcus Browne

Even slicing Artur Beterbiev’s forehead isn’t enough to stop the Russian from winning.

And that was exactly the case when he defended his unified world titles against Marcus Browne in 2021.

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Four rounds into the fight, an accidental clash of heads left a huge gash on Beterbiev’s forehead that saw blood pour into his eyes and obstruct his vision.

“We wanted to start this fight slow and put gradual pressure on Marcus Browne,” Beterbiev’s trainer Marc Ramsey told Top Rank.

“But, with the cut, there was a danger that they would stop the fight and it was a bad cut, blood going straight to his eyes.”

Beterbiev describes the moment he returned to the corner at the end of round four: “They took us to the doctor and he said, ‘one more round.’

“Leading with the head is not legal, it is not right to do that and [Browne] made me angry.

Much like the Hulk, Beterbiev isn’t a man you want to anger and as his trainer Ramsey said, “He’s become a bit like an animal.”

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Beterbiev’s assistant coach John Scully echoed that sentiment, saying, “He didn’t fight like the cut bothered him. He didn’t try to protect the cut.

“It was just seek and destroy.”

From that moment, Beterbiev totally dominated the rest of the fight to the point that the doctor no longer saw the need to stop the fight.

After dropping Browne in the seventh, Beterbiev finally finished the fight in the ninth round to maintain his undefeated record and knockout streak.

Two years later, that undefeated record and knockout streak still stands, with Beterbiev having had 18 professional fights, 18 wins and 18 knockouts.

The next challenger hoping to dethrone Beterbiev will be Britain’s Anthony Yarde, with the duo set to face off at Wembley Arena on Saturday night.

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