_1652079158.jpg)
WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol has gone from being an unknown to being one of the most talked about boxers in the world.
This past Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Bivol outboxed 5-1 betting favorite Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez to secure a dominant twelve round unanimous decision.
“I always believed in my victory, I believed that I could beat him. There wasn’t much on my side – there were no spectators [to cheer me on], it was impossible to put up a [Russian] flag, it was impossible to use my [Russian] music, I entered the ring first, as if I wasn’t a champion. But it has nothing to do with the fight itself,” Bivol told Igor Lazorin.
There is a rematch clause, but the terms of the rematch were not established in the contract.
“I have a clause in the contract, according to which I am obliged to give Alvarez a rematch. We did not finalize the terms in advance, and this is good, I’m not even thinking about future plans at the moment. Before each fight, I focus and think that this is my only fight. Yes, there are some vague plans, but I always have the mindset as if this is the only fight,” Bivol said.
Bivol has a lot of respect for Canelo, a world champion in four weight divisions and currently the undisputed super middleweight champion.
“He’s a normal person. To some extent, he is engaged in charity work, we signed paintings for this purpose. He has a family, children, he is a great champion. He was a world champion in four weights, I don’t think that many people can boast of this. I wouldn’t say he’s arrogant. He treated me with respect, as I treated him,” Bivol said.
“I called Alvarez great in terms of merit, he achieved a lot as a boxer. I also need to achieve things, win other belts, maybe in other weight categories. While I do not have the feeling that I’m some kind of great…. yes, I am a good boxer with good qualities, I can beat great opponents. But I don’t get opponents as easily as Alvarez can and this is my situation.”