Dmitry Yuryevich Bivol is a Russian professional boxer who has held the WBA light heavyweight title since 2017.
42 Facts About Dmitry Bivol
2.
Dmitry Bivol is ranked as the best light heavyweight by The Ring, ESPN, and BoxRec, and second by TBRB.
3.
Dmitry Bivol's father was born in Soviet Moldova while his mother is an ethnic Korean born in Soviet Kazakhstan.
4.
Dmitry Bivol's parents moved to Soviet Kyrgyzstan after graduating and marrying.
5.
Dmitry Bivol was born and raised in Kyrgyzstan until the age of 11, when he moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia.
6.
Dmitry Bivol took up boxing at the age of 6 in Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan.
7.
Dmitry Bivol was a naturally bigger kid and he weighed a lot compared to an average-size boy of his age.
8.
Dmitry Bivol explains how his confidence grew as he started to win over much older guys in his amateur bouts.
9.
Dmitry Bivol was a decorated amateur, winning 2 world championships at the junior level, as well as a bronze medal at the 2008 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in the middleweight division.
10.
Dmitry Bivol won the Russian national amateur boxing championships in 2012 and 2014, as a light heavyweight.
11.
Dmitry Bivol sparred with Egor Mekhontsev, Jean Pascal, and Vyacheslav Shabranskyy early in his career.
12.
Dmitry Bivol won the interim WBA light heavyweight title on 21 May 2016, beating previously undefeated Felix Valera by unanimous decision.
13.
At the time, the WBA had three different world titles, with Dmitry Bivol holding the lesser version of them.
14.
Dmitry Bivol easily overcame Berridge, pummeling him over 4 rounds before a technical knockout stoppage.
15.
At the start of round 4, Dmitry Bivol opened a cut over Berridge's right eye.
16.
Dmitry Bivol then defended his title against Samuel Clarkson on 14 April 2017.
17.
Dmitry Bivol 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.
18.
Dmitry Bivol sought to face WBA champion Nathan Cleverly following his win over Clarkson.
19.
Dmitry Bivol appeared on the undercard of Ward-Kovalev II, in a non-title bout against Cedric Agnew.
20.
Dmitry Bivol won quickly and emphatically, getting a 4th-round TKO for the third consecutive time.
21.
Dmitry Bivol was scheduled to fight Trent Broadhurst on an optional defense on 4 November 2017 at the Salle des Etoiles.
22.
Dmitry Bivol won the fight by knockout with a clean right-handed shot at the end of the first round.
23.
Dmitry 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.
24.
Dmitry 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.
25.
Dmitry Bivol landed 244 of 778 of his punches, including 146 of 378 power shots, compared to just 75 of 606 for Barrera, who landed 65 of 273 of his power punches.
26.
On 6 June 2018, Main Events announced that Dmitry Bivol would make a defence against 31-year-old, longtime contender Isaac Chilemba on 4 August at the Etess Arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
27.
In front of a sold-out crowd of 5,642, Dmitry Bivol handed Chilemba his sixth career defeat by defeating him via a twelve-round unanimous decision, retaining his WBA title.
28.
Dmitry Bivol landed the harder and cleaner shots throughout the fight.
29.
Dmitry Bivol appeared to hurt his right hand as he hardly used it after the first six rounds.
30.
Dmitry Bivol appeared to have hurt his right hand early on.
31.
Dmitry Bivol displayed his defensive skills as he blocked many of Chilemba's punches.
32.
On 10 October 2019, Dmitry Bivol was elevated to the status of full WBA light heavyweight champion, two days before his fight against Gilbert Lenin Castillo.
33.
On 12 October 2019, Dmitry Bivol fought Gilbert Lenin Castillo on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs Chazz Witherspoon at the Wintrust Arena, Chicago.
34.
Dmitry Bivol came into his first title defense as a significant -3300 favorite, while most odds-makers had Richards as a +1400 underdog.
35.
Dmitry Bivol appeared to take the first eight rounds, while Richard managed to edge out the last four rounds of the fight.
36.
Dmitry 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".
37.
On 22 November 2021, it was announced that Dmitry Bivol would make his third WBA light heavyweight title defense against Umar Salamov on 11 December 2021, at the KRK Uralets in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
38.
Dmitry Bivol entered the fight as a -2000 favorite to win, while most odds-makers had Salamov as a +1100 underdog.
39.
Personally, I felt he [Dmitry Bivol] only won four or five rounds.
40.
On 11 July 2022, the WBA ordered Dmitry Bivol to make a mandatory title defense against the former WBO super middleweight champion and current top contender Gilberto Ramirez.
41.
Dmitry 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.
42.
Dmitry Bivol was later named the 2022 The Ring "Fighter of the Year".