Artur Beterbiev's trainer: His faith as important as punching power

If Artur Beterbiev’s punching power is what makes him successful inside the ring, his religious faith is a close second, at least according to his co-trainer John Scully

The unbeaten IBF light heavyweight titleholder lives in Montreal but he’s a native of the Russian republic of Chechenya, which is predominantly Muslim.

Scully, who has helped guide Beterbiev for nearly his entire professional career, has noticed that his fighter’s dedication to training is closely tied to his faith. 

Beterbiev (14-0, 14 knockouts) faces WBC beltholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk (17-0, 14 KOs) in a title-unification bout Friday at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.

“Artur is a really devout Muslim and what comes with that is extreme discipline: no drugs, no alcohol, no hanging out,” Scully told Boxing Junkie. “… I’ll say this much: For a fighter who is very devout, it’s an ideal situation.

“He sleeps at the right time, eats the right thing, doesn’t abuse his body.”

The ascetic lifestyle has worked out well so far. Beterbiev has knocked out all of his opponents, developing a fearsome reputation in the process as one of the sport’s hardest thumpers.

And because Beterbiev is in prime condition every time he fights, it has enabled him to shake off knockdowns with ease. Case in point is Beterbiev’s previous fight against Calum Johnson, when he went down from a left hook in the second round.

“His conditioning is so awesome,” Scully said. “You saw that he went down and he was fine right away and recovered quickly and ended the fight not that long after.

“Artur doesn’t care. He’s letting his hands go and he doesn’t care. He got up and he annihilated the guy. You don’t see that often.”

Beterbiev stopped Johnson in the fourth round.

Beterbiev is 34, an age when many fighters have begun to decline. But Scully believes his protege is peaking. 

“It’s a different era,” Scully said. “Fighters are getting stronger later. Back in the day, guys like Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard were in their 30s and they were considered washed up. Now you have guys in their late 30s and 40s that are still very strong.”