Marc Ramsey, trainer of unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, says his fighter is not frustrated by the amount of time it took to make his clash with countryman and fellow belt-holder Dmitrii Bivol. Instead, he is just focused on the task ahead. 

“It's going to be a very important fight,” Ramsey said in an exclusive interview for BoxingScene. “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.”

Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) puts his IBF, WBC and WBO belts on the line against Bivol’s WBA title in a fight that will confirm the greatest light heavyweight on the planet. However, the fight has been in the making for over half a decade. Now Beterbiev is 39.

“There hasn’t really been any frustration,” Ramsey added. “We’ve just been waiting and waiting. 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 is coming off a destructive seventh round stoppage victory over Callum Smith in January following some scrutiny for his performance against Anthony Yarde a year earlier. His advancing age was also drawing some concerns from the media. Bivol had scored a wide points win over Lyndon Arthur a month earlier in Riyadh.

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

Ramsey’s resume features former champions such as Jean Pascal, David Lemieux and Oscar Rivas. He also leads Eye of the Tiger’s talented stable. Where does Beterbiev rank on his extensive CV?

“Of course he is the best I’ve worked with,” Ramsey said. “People see a very powerful boxer in Artur, but this is not the main thing. He is very tricky and has good boxing skills. Of course, he’s very strong, but his discipline puts him at number one for me. Every single thing he does is to the highest standard. He’s a unified champion, he has to be the best.”