Dmitry Yuryevich Bivol (russian: Дмитрий Юрьевич Бивол; born 18 December 1990) is a Russian
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who has held the
WBA light heavyweight
Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
title since 2017. As an
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
, he won a gold medal at the
2013 World Combat Games in the 81 kg weight category. As of November 2022, Bivol is ranked as the world's third best active boxer,
pound for pound
Pound for pound is a ranking used in combat sports, such as boxing, wrestling, or mixed martial arts, of who the better fighters are irrespective of their weight, i.e. adjusted to compensate for weight class. As these fighters do not compete direc ...
, by
BoxRec
BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing.
The objective of the site is to document every profess ...
, fifth by the
Transnational Boxing Rankings Board
The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) is an all-volunteer initiative formed in October 2012 with the intention of providing professional boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identifying the singular world champion of every divisio ...
(TBRB), sixth by ''
The Ring'', and seventh by the
Boxing Writers Association of America The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) was originally formed in 1926 as the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York. The association's purpose is to promote better working conditions for boxing writers, as well as hold its writers ...
and
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. He is also ranked as the best light heavyweight by ''
The Ring'',
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, and
BoxRec
BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing.
The objective of the site is to document every profess ...
, and second by
TBRB.
Early life
Dmitry Bivol's father was born in
Soviet Moldova and grew up speaking Moldovan (Romanian), while his mother was of Korean descent and born in Kazakhstan. Dmitry's parents moved to
Soviet Kyrgyzstan after graduating and marrying. Dmitry was born and raised in Kyrgyzstan until the age of 11, when he moved to Russia.
Amateur career
Dmitry Bivol took up boxing at the age of 6 in Tokmak,
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
. Bivol was a naturally bigger kid and he weighed a lot compared to an average-size boy of his age. He explains how his confidence grew as he started to win over much older guys in his amateur bouts.
[ Bivol was a decorated amateur, winning 2 world championships at the junior (U-17) level, as well as a bronze medal at the ]2008 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships
The 2008 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships were held in Guadalajara, Mexico, from October 31 to November 1, 2008. It was the first edition of the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships which had taken over from the Junior World Championship. Th ...
in the middleweight
Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to .
Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...
division. Bivol won the Russian national amateur boxing championships in 2012 and 2014, as a light heavyweight
Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
. His record as an amateur is 268–15.
Professional career
Early career
Bivol made his professional debut in November 2014. He won his first 6 fights by knockout. Bivol sparred with Egor Mekhontsev
Egor Leonidovich Mekhontsev (Егор Леонидович Мехонцев, transliteration ''Egor Leonidovich Mechoncev''; born 14 November 1984), is a Russian professional boxer, who among other achievements, won gold at 2012 London Olympics ...
, Jean Pascal
Jean-Thenistor Pascal (born 28 October 1982) is a Haitian-born Canadian professional boxer. He held the WBA (Regular) light-heavyweight title from 2019 to 2021, and previously the WBC, IBO, '' Ring'' magazine and lineal light-heavyweight tit ...
, and Vyacheslav Shabranskyy
Vyacheslav "Slava" Shabranskyy ( ua, В'ячеслав Вікторович Шабранський; born 1 May 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer who challenged for the WBO light-heavyweight title in 2017.
Amateur career
Vyacheslav Shabra ...
early in his career. Bivol lives in St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
but trains in Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
.[
]
WBA interim light heavyweight champion
Bivol won the interim
An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities.
Interim may also refer to:
Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept)
*Provis ...
WBA light heavyweight
Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
title on 21 May 2016, beating previously undefeated Felix Valera by unanimous decision (119-107, 119-107, 116-111). Bivol dominated Valera, dropping him twice with combinations. At the time, the WBA had three different world titles, with Bivol holding the lesser version of them. Bivol's first defense came against Robert Berridge
Robert Berridge (born 22 November 1984) is a retired New Zealand professional light heavyweight boxer.
Berridge is a boxer who has had over thirty fights, five boxing titles and has peaked at ninth on the World Boxing Organization and twelfth ...
on 23 February 2017. Bivol easily overcame Berridge, pummeling him over 4 rounds before a technical knockout stoppage. Berridge was knocked down in round 3. At the start of round 4, Bivol opened a cut over Berridge's right eye. Following another knockdown and with Berridge bleeding profusely, the ringside doctor stopped the fight. Bivol then defended his title against Samuel Clarkson on 14 April 2017. The fight headlined a ShoBox show at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. Bivol once again won in dominant fashion, knocking Clarkson down twice in the first round, before dropping him once more with a short right hand midway through round 4. Although Clarkson got up, the referee stopped the fight, giving Bivol a TKO win.
Bivol sought to face WBA (Regular)
The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...
champion Nathan Cleverly
Nathan Cleverly (born 17 February 1987) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2017. He is a two-time light-heavyweight world champion, having held the WBO title from 2011 to 2013, and the WBA (Regular) title from 2016 t ...
following his win over Clarkson. He appeared on the undercard of Ward-Kovalev II, in a non-title bout against Cedric Agnew
Cedric Agnew (born December 11, 1986) is an American professional boxer. He challenged once for the WBO light heavyweight title in 2014.
Amateur career
Agnew is a former national Golden Gloves runner-up.
Regional title fights
United Stat ...
. Agnew had previously lost to Clarkson. Bivol once again won quickly and emphatically, getting a 4th-round TKO for the third consecutive time. Agnew was dropped in the first round.
WBA light heavyweight champion
As interim champion, Bivol was Cleverly's mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...
, but the WBA granted Cleverly an exception for him to face Badou Jack
Badou Johannes Gabriel Jack (born 31 October 1983) is a Swedish professional boxer. He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC super-middleweight title from 2014 to 2017 and the WBA light-heavyweight title in 201 ...
. After Jack defeated Cleverly, the WBA ordered a Jack-Bivol purse bid
A purse bid is an initial step in arranging a professional boxing match, involving the fight's/card's promoter(s). All interested registered promoters may bid on the amount of the purse (the total money that the fighters will be paid for the ma ...
.[ However, following ]WBA (Super)
The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...
and unified champion Andre Ward
Andre Michael Ward (born February 23, 1984) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and held multiple world titles in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super), ...
's retirement, Jack decided to vacate his title, presumably to pursue one of the other vacant titles previously held by Ward.
Bivol vs. Broadhurst
With the WBA's other two titles being vacated, interim champion Bivol was elevated to full champion. He was scheduled to fight Trent Broadhurst on an optional defense on 4 November 2017 at the Salle des Etoiles. As interim champion, Dmitry Bivol was ranked #1 by the WBA when the fight was announced, while Broadhurst was ranked #11. The announcement was met with incredulity by the media, due to many fighters ranked above Broadhurst being available. The WBA's #2 contender, Sullivan Barrera
Sullivan Barrera (born 25 February 1982) is a Cuban professional boxer. As an amateur, he won the middleweight gold medal at the 2000 AIBA Junior World Championships. He challenged once for the WBA light heavyweight title in 2018.
Amateur car ...
, took to Twitter to express his displeasure at being overlooked. The WBA's president, Gilberto Mendoza, later clarified that the winner of the bout will be ordered to fight the WBA's top contender within 120 days. Bivol won the fight by knockout with a clean right-handed shot at the end of the first round. The live broadcast of the fight averaged 341,000 viewers on HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
, while a same-day replay averaged 289,000 viewers.
Bivol vs. Barrera
Next Bivol faced the toughest test of his career on 3 March 2018 and dominated Sullivan Barrera
Sullivan Barrera (born 25 February 1982) is a Cuban professional boxer. As an amateur, he won the middleweight gold medal at the 2000 AIBA Junior World Championships. He challenged once for the WBA light heavyweight title in 2018.
Amateur car ...
(21-2, 14 KO) and stopped him in the 12th and final round. Bivol was able to outbox and out-punch Barrera throughout the fight, then exploded suddenly with a massive right hand that put the Cuban down halfway into the final frame. Barrera did get up, but referee Harvey Dock stopped the fight for the TKO at 1:41. Bivol received a cut over his right eye early in the bout, and a haematoma that developed over his left eye as the fight went on. Both came from accidental clashes of heads. The fight was part of a doubleheader which saw Sergey Kovalev
Sergey Alexandrovich Kovalev (russian: Сергей Александрович Ковалёв (Ko-va-LYOV); born 2 April 1983) is a Russian professional boxer. He has held multiple light-heavyweight world championships, including the WBA (Undi ...
successfully defend his WBO title against Igor Mikhalkin. The card was confirmed in December 2017. After the fight, Bivol said through a translator, “I felt a little bit like an amateur tonight, it was a really great opponent. Barrera showed me a lot of things tonight, and I have to work on a lot of things. Thanks, Sullivan. I was a little bit reserved. I was thinking how much I need to go the rest of the fight, but in the 12th round, I knew I could knock him out. I stepped on the gas, and the knockout came.”
Bivol landed 244 of 778 (31%) of his punches, including 146 of 378 (39%) power shots, compared to just 75 of 606 (12%) for Barrera, who landed 65 of 273 (24%) of his power punches. Barrera, who has a solid jab, was also completely out-jabbed, landing just 10 of 333 (3%), compared to 97 of 400 (24%) for Bivol. The fight averaged 512,000 viewers, peaking at 570,000 viewers, on HBO.
Bivol vs. Chilemba
On 6 June 2018, Main Events announced that Bivol would make a defence against 31-year-old, longtime contender Isaac Chilemba (25-5-2, 10 KOs) on 4 August at the Etess Arena
Hard Rock Live, formerly known as Etess Arena, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey located at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. Originally opening in April 1990 as a part of the Trump Taj Mahal, the arena seats over ...
in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. . Bivol was happy he had the chance to fight a tough challenger, "I am glad that my next opponent will be a tough and well-known boxer in Chilemba. I will do my best to put on another exciting performance for all my fans." The fight would be a co-feature to Sergey Kovalev defending his WBO title against Eleider Álvarez
Eléider Álvarez Baytar (born 8 April 1984) is a Colombian professional boxer who held the World Boxing Organisation, WBO light-heavyweight title from 2018 to 2019. As an amateur boxing, amateur he won a gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Game ...
. The idea of having both Bivol and Kovalev on the same card was part of a plan to have them face off in the fall of 2018 in a unification bout, however both had to come out victorious in their respected bouts.
In front of a sold-out crowd of 5,642, Bivol handed Chilemba his sixth career defeat by defeating him via a twelve-round unanimous decision, retaining his WBA title. The three judges scored the bout 120–108, 120–108, and 116–112 for Bivol. Other media outlets including ESPN also scored it a shutout win for Bivol. Bivol landed the harder and cleaner shots throughout the fight. Chilemba landed some nice punches, but not enough to take the rounds. Chilemba used his size to his advantage. Bivol appeared to hurt his right hand as he hardly used it after the first six rounds. Bivol appeared to have hurt his right hand early on. To many viewers, Bivol's right hand gave him a bit of aching after the early rounds. Chilemba showed a great chin in absorbing Bivol's best punches in the first six rounds. Bivol displayed his defensive skills as he blocked many of Chilemba's punches. The punch Chilemba landed the most was a jab. After the fight, Bivol said, "Chilemba is a good fighter and he had champion spirit tonight. He is a strong fighter. I want to fight more good fighters. I don't know who my next opponent will be." Bivol described Chilemba as an awkward fighter. Chilemba believed he dominated the fight after round 6 and should have won the fight. According to CompuBox, Bivol landed 154 of 447 punches thrown (35%) and Chilemba landed 73 of his 472 thrown (16%). The fight, which took place on HBO, averaged 583,000 viewers and hit a peak of 632,000 viewers.
In the main event, Álvarez knocked out Kovalev to claim the WBO title, putting a dent in Bivol's plan to fight Kovalev in the fall.
Bivol vs. Pascal
Weeks after defeating Chilemba, Bivol's manager, Vadim Kornilov, revealed Bivol would likely return to the ring in December 2018. With the other light heavyweight titleholders already scheduled to make defences, Kornilov stated, "We're trying to get the biggest name we can to get Dmitry more exposure fighting top guys." In September, there were rumours circulating that Bivol would defend his title against Joe Smith Jr. in December. A month later, TVA Sports
TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other Fre ...
and The Montreal Journal reported that former unified champion Jean Pascal
Jean-Thenistor Pascal (born 28 October 1982) is a Haitian-born Canadian professional boxer. He held the WBA (Regular) light-heavyweight title from 2019 to 2021, and previously the WBC, IBO, '' Ring'' magazine and lineal light-heavyweight tit ...
(33-5-1, 20 KOs) was in talks to fight Bivol on 24 November 2018. The news came after it was also reported that Smith was reportedly closing in on signing a deal to fight IBF champion Artur Beterbiev
Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev ( ce, Арту́р Асильбе́кович Бетерби́ев russian: Артур Асильбекович Бетербиев; born 21 January 1985) is a Russian-Canadian professional boxer. He is a unified li ...
in December. Pascal was one of the frontrunners to fight Bivol in August 2018. Only a few hours later, the fight was announced to take place on HBO at the Etess Arena in Atlantic City. Before talks emerged, Pascal was originally scheduled to fight Canadian cruiserweight champion Gary Kopas in Canada on 9 November, however the fight was cancelled in early October after Pascal needed time to attend his father's funeral.
Bivol vs. Smith Jr.
On 9 March 2019, Bivol outboxed Joe Smith Jr. to win a unanimous decision at the Turning Stone Resort Casino
Turning Stone Resort Casino is a Native American resort casino owned and operated by the Oneida Indian Nation of New York (OIN) in Verona, New York.
The facility opened on July 20, 1993, and offers golf amenities (on- and off-site golf course ...
, Verona, New York
Verona (called ''Te-o-na-ta-le'', "''pine forest''" by the Haudenosaunee) is a town in southwestern Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 6,293 at the 2010 census. The town was named after Verona, Italy.
Verona is located so ...
, with scores of 119-109, 119-109, 118-110. Bivol's complete domination was reflected by the CompuBox
CompuBox is the name of a computerized punches scoring system run by two operators. CompuBox is used in boxing matches around the world.
Background
The system is based on a computer program, originally named FightStat, developed by Jon Gibbs in ...
punch stats: Bivol out-threw Smith Jr. 714 to 395, while Bivol outlanded him by a lopsided margin of 208 to 39, for a 29% to 10% edge in accuracy.
WBA (Super) light heavyweight champion
Bivol vs. Castillo
On 10 October 2019, Bivol was elevated to the status of full WBA (Super) light heavyweight champion, two days before his fight against Gilbert Lenin Castillo. On 12 October 2019, Bivol fought Gilbert Lenin Castillo on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk
Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk ( uk, Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович У́сик; born 17 January 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WB ...
vs. Chazz Witherspoon
Chazz Witherspoon (born September 16, 1981) is an American former professional boxer. The second cousin of former boxing champion Tim Witherspoon, he emerged as a talented boxer in the 2000s. He won the 2004 National Golden Gloves finals in Kansas ...
at the Wintrust Arena
Wintrust Arena at McCormick Square, previously referred to as DePaul Arena or McCormick Place Events Center, is a 10,387-seat sports venue in the Near South Side community area of Chicago that opened in 2017. It is the current home court for ...
, Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. Bivol dropped his opponent in the sixth round with a counter right hand en route to a convincing unanimous decision victory, with scores of 119-108, 119-108, and 120-107. According to CompuBox
CompuBox is the name of a computerized punches scoring system run by two operators. CompuBox is used in boxing matches around the world.
Background
The system is based on a computer program, originally named FightStat, developed by Jon Gibbs in ...
, Bivol landed 188 of 652 total punches, connecting at a 29% rate, compared to Castillo, who was 98 of 429 (23%).
Bivol vs. Richards
On 19 February 2021, it was revealed that Bivol would make the second defense of his WBA (Super) title against the #8 ranked WBA light heavyweight contender Craig Richards. The bout was scheduled for the undercard of the Dereck Chisora and Joseph Parker heavyweight clash, which took place on 1 May 2021, at the Manchester Arena
Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...
. Bivol came into his first title defense as a significant -3300 favorite, while most odds-makers had Richards as a +1400 underdog. He justified his role as the betting favorite, winning the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 115–113 and 115–114. Bivol appeared to take the first eight rounds, while Richard managed to edge out the last four rounds of the fight. Bivol called out his fellow light heavyweight champions for a title unification bout in the post-fight interview, stating: "It doesn’t matter who wants to fight me, I’m open for everyone from the light heavyweight division".
Bivol vs. Salamov
On 22 November 2021, it was announced that Bivol would make his third WBA (Super) light heavyweight title defense against Umar Salamov
Umar Isaevich Salamov (; born 7 June 1994) is a Russian professional boxer who held the IBO light-heavyweight title in 2016.
Professional career
In May 2016, Salamov moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to start at a new training camp in Kevin Barry's ...
on 11 December 2021, at the KRK Uralets
KRK Uralets, or Yekaterinburg Sports Palace, is an indoor sporting arena located in Yekaterinburg, Russia. It is used for various indoor events and is the home arena of the Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
HC Avtomobilist (russian: Автомоб ...
in Ekaterinburg, Russia. The title bout was scheduled as the main event of a DAZN
DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet.
The ...
broadcast card. Salamov was initially expected to face the WBO titleholder Joe Smith Jr. in October 2021, before the fight was cancelled as Smith Jr. withdrew after contracting COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Bivol entered the fight as a -2000 favorite to win, while most odds-makers had Salamov as a +1100 underdog. Bivol retained the title by a dominant unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the fight 118–110 in his favor, while the third judge awarded him a 119–109 scorecard.
Bivol vs. Álvarez
It was announced on 25 February 2022 that Bivol would be making the fourth defense of his WBA (Super) title against 4-division world champion Canelo Álvarez
Santos Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez Barragán (; born 18 July 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He has won multiple world championships in four weight classes from light middleweight to light heavyweight, including unified titles in three of ...
on 7 May in a bout that would be televised as sports streaming service DAZN
DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet.
The ...
's first pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
offering in the United States and Canada. The fight was able to take place because while in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
three of boxing's world governing bodies had blocked championship fights involving Russian and Belarusian boxers, the World Boxing Association (WBA) chose to allow the fight to proceed. Despite coming into the bout as an underdog, with most odds-makers having him a +400 underdog, Bivol won the fight by unanimous decision (115–113 on all three judges' scorecards) after 12 rounds. According to CompuBox
CompuBox is the name of a computerized punches scoring system run by two operators. CompuBox is used in boxing matches around the world.
Background
The system is based on a computer program, originally named FightStat, developed by Jon Gibbs in ...
punch statistics, Bivol had outlanded Álvarez in every single round of the fight, for a total of 152 punches landed out of 710 thrown (21%), compared to Álvarez's 84 of 495 (17%). Many media reporters and pundits drew attention to the judges' official scorecards: all three judges had scored Álvarez the winner of the first four rounds, something that was roundly criticized, and described by ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
reporter Mike Coppinger as "puzzling". Despite the widespread public opinion that Bivol was the deserved winner, Álvarez disagreed with this notion, stating in his post-fight interview: "I don't feel like I lost the fight... Personally, I felt he ivolonly won four or five rounds." He went on to express his desire to fight Bivol again: "We want the rematch, and we're going to do better in the rematch."
Bivol vs. Ramírez
On 11 July 2022, the WBA ordered Bivol to make a mandatory title defense against the former WBO super middleweight
Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...
champion and current top contender Gilberto Ramírez
Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez (born 19 June 1991) is a Mexican professional boxer. He held the WBO super middleweight title from 2016 to 2019, and is the first boxer from Mexico to win a major world title in that weight class. As of November 2022, ...
. His promoters, Matchroom Boxing, asked for an exemption to bypass a mandatory title defense against Ramirez and instead face Joshua Buatsi
Joshua Buatsi (born 14 March 1993) is a British professional boxer who held the British light-heavyweight title in 2019, and the WBA International light-heavyweight title between 2018 and 2021. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the lig ...
. The request was rejected by the WBA on 10 August. A purse bid was called for 21 August as the pair failed to come to terms, with a minimum bid of $400,000, with a 75% split in favor of Bivol. The two camps came to an agreement on 21 August. Bivol and Ramírez would face each other on 5 November 2022, in the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
. Bivol won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 117–111, 117–111 and 118–110. Bivol outlanded Ramirez 131 to 107 in overall punches and 64 to 38 in jabs, negating his opponent's narrow 69 to 67 lead in power connects. During the post-fight interview, Bivol stated his desire to face the unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev
Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev ( ce, Арту́р Асильбе́кович Бетерби́ев russian: Артур Асильбекович Бетербиев; born 21 January 1985) is a Russian-Canadian professional boxer. He is a unified li ...
in a title unification bout.
Professional boxing record
Pay-per-view bouts
Professional boxing
References
External links
*
Dmitry Bivol Partial Record from Amateur Boxing Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bivol, Dmitry
1990 births
Living people
Russian male boxers
Russian people of Moldovan descent
Koryo-saram
World Boxing Association champions
World light-heavyweight boxing champions
Universiade silver medalists for Russia
Universiade medalists in boxing
Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade