117 Facts About Dmitry Bivol

Dmitry Yuryevich Bivol is a Russian professional boxer.

Dmitry Bivol has held the unified light-heavyweight championship since February 2025, as well as the International Boxing Organization and Ring magazine titles.

Dmitry Bivol held the IBO title during his first reign as champion.

Dmitry Bivol was listed by multiple sources as the fighter of the year for 2022, including being selected as The Ring magazine Fighter of The Year and as the Boxing Writers Association of America's Fighter of the Year.

Dmitry Bivol is the only boxer to defeat two reigning undisputed world champions in the "four-belt era".

Dmitry Bivol's father was born in the Moldavian SSR, while his mother is an ethnic Korean born in the Kazakh SSR.

Dmitry Bivol's parents moved to the Kirghiz SSR after graduating and marrying.

Dmitry Bivol was born and raised in Kyrgyzstan until the age of 11, when he moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Dmitry Bivol took up boxing at the age of six in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan.

Dmitry Bivol was a naturally bigger kid and he weighed a lot compared to an average-size boy of his age.

Dmitry Bivol explains how his confidence grew as he started to win over much older guys in his amateur bouts.

Dmitry Bivol was a decorated amateur, winning two world championships at the junior level, as well as a bronze medal at the 2008 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in the middleweight division.

Dmitry Bivol won the Russian national amateur boxing championships in 2012 and 2014, as a light heavyweight.

Dmitry Bivol sparred with Egor Mekhontsev, Jean Pascal, and Vyacheslav Shabranskyy early in his career.

Dmitry Bivol won the interim WBA light heavyweight title on 21 May 2016, beating previously undefeated Felix Valera by unanimous decision.

At the time, the WBA had three different world titles, with Dmitry Bivol holding the lesser version of them.

Dmitry Bivol easily overcame Berridge, pummeling him over four rounds before a technical knockout stoppage.

At the start of round 4, Dmitry Bivol opened a cut over Berridge's right eye.

Dmitry Bivol then defended his title against Samuel Clarkson on 14 April 2017.

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.

Dmitry Bivol sought to face WBA champion Nathan Cleverly following his win over Clarkson.

Dmitry Bivol appeared on the undercard of Ward-Kovalev II, in a non-title bout against Cedric Agnew.

Dmitry Bivol won quickly and emphatically, getting a 4th-round TKO for the third consecutive time.

Dmitry Bivol was scheduled to fight Trent Broadhurst on an optional defense on 4 November 2017 at the Salle des Etoiles.

Dmitry Bivol won the fight by knockout with a clean right-handed shot at the end of the first round.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Dmitry Bivol landed the harder and cleaner shots throughout the fight.

Dmitry Bivol appeared to hurt his right hand as he hardly used it after the first six rounds.

Dmitry Bivol appeared to have hurt his right hand early on.

Dmitry Bivol displayed his defensive skills as he blocked many of Chilemba's punches.

Dmitry Bivol saw this taking a toll on Pascal and became even more aggressive, landing body shots and leaving Pascal attempting to defend and not throw back.

Dmitry Bivol had a good fourth round, but Bivol quickly reasserted his dominance.

CompuBox showed just how diminant Dmitry Bivol was in landing 217 of 678 punches thrown, and Pascal landed only 60 of 357 his thrown.

Dmitry Bivol was aware of this after the two sparred in 2016.

In January 2019, Dmitry Bivol signed a multi-fight contract with streaming service DAZN.

Dmitry Bivol's first fight on the platform was announced to take place against Joe Smith Jr.

Dmitry Bivol even came close to stopping Smith in the final round.

Dmitry Bivol was buzzed in round 4 following a right hand to the head.

Two days before the fight, Dmitry Bivol was elevated to the status of full WBA light heavyweight champion.

Dmitry Bivol weighed 174.3 pounds and Castillo came in at 175 pound limit.

Dmitry Bivol was waiting patiently for results in the next month.

Dmitry Bivol wanted to fight the winner of the unification battle between Artur Beterbiev and Oleksandr Gvozdyk or Saul Alvarez vs Sergey Kovalev, who were set to fight for the latter's WBO title.

Dmitry Bivol came into his first title defense as a significant -3300 favorite, while most odds-makers had Richards as a +1400 underdog.

Dmitry Bivol would have been out of the ring for 18 months by fight night.

Dmitry Bivol knew what Bivol bought to the table, but felt it was Bivol who had a point to prove and make a statement.

Dmitry Bivol appeared to take the first eight rounds, while Richards managed to edge out the last four rounds of the fight.

Richards' power began to show in the final round when Dmitry Bivol started holding to avoid further punishment.

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".

On 22 November 2021, it was announced that Dmitry Bivol would make his third WBA title defense against Umar Salamov on 11 December at the KRK Uralets in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Dmitry Bivol entered the fight as a -2000 favorite to win, while most odds-makers had Salamov as a +1100 underdog.

Dmitry Bivol retained the title by a dominant unanimous decision as Salamov proved to be over-matched.

Dmitry Bivol started quick, building a strong lead then coasted to a lop-sided decision.

Dmitry Bivol kept coming forward only to be tagged by jabs all fight.

Dmitry Bivol won the fight by unanimous decision after 12 rounds, in one of boxings recent upsets.

Dmitry Bivol won the final 3 rounds on all three judges scorecards to avoid anything other than a deserved win.

Dmitry Bivol fought behind the jab in the opening round whilst Alvarez attacked his body.

Dmitry Bivol used his excellent foot movements and took control of the fight during the middle rounds.

Dmitry Bivol was warned by referee Russell Mora in the seventh round for pushing Alvarez down.

Alvarez began to tire from round 8 as Dmitry Bivol continued to outwork him.

Dmitry Bivol's arms were bruised due to Alvarez's tactics, the same tactic he had used in his win over Callum Smith where he targeted his arms.

Dmitry Bivol kept hitting me in the arms, and I kept hitting him in the face.

Personally, I felt he [Dmitry Bivol] only won four or five rounds.

Dmitry Bivol was guaranteed $2 million base up to $5 million, depending on PPV revenue, his highest career purse.

On 11 July 2022, the WBA ordered Dmitry Bivol to make a mandatory title defence against the former WBO super middleweight champion and current top contender Gilberto Ramirez.

Dmitry Bivol argued that Bivol's team never wanted to make the fight, hence asking the WBA for an exemption, in order to fight Buatsi.

Dmitry Bivol's aim was to exact revenge for Mexico after Bivol defeated Alvarez.

Dmitry Bivol made a tenth successful defence of his WBA title, defeating Ramirez by unanimous decision.

Dmitry Bivol started slow losing a couple of the opening four rounds.

Dmitry Bivol dominated with his speed and combinations as Ramirez was out of his depth in the second half of the contest.

Dmitry Bivol was able to catch anything Ramirez threw his way with his gloves and arms.

Dmitry Bivol fought on the inside during the championship rounds, showing he was indeed far superior than his opponent.

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.

Dmitry Bivol explained his change in strategy for the fight compared to his previous fight.

Many believed Dmitry Bivol would fight on the backfoot with Ramirez trying to get close to him, however it was Dmitry Bivol who was coming forward.

Dmitry Bivol was later named the 2022 The Ring "Fighter of the Year".

On 14 November 2023, it was announced that Dmitry Bivol would defend his WBA title against IBO light heavyweight champion Lyndon Arthur.

Dmitry Bivol underwent surgery on his right hand in April 2024 to resolve a deep-rooting pain.

Dmitry Bivol was now more confident in his right hand and able to train more effectively during his light training camp earlier in the year.

Dmitry Bivol was a huge +1100 underdog heading into the fight.

Dmitry Bivol weighed in 174.6 pounds and Arthur was a little lighter at 174.2 pounds.

Dmitry Bivol knocked Arthur down once, as he forced him to take a knee with a left hook to the body in round 11.

Dmitry Bivol did not take much risk and put on a workman-like performance.

Dmitry Bivol was stopped in his tracks after Arthur caught him with a big shot.

Dmitry Bivol admitted he wanted to go for a stoppage, but did not feel fully confident in his hand after the recent hand surgery.

Dmitry Bivol was expected to face the unified WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed title on 1 June 2024.

Dmitry Bivol praised and thanked Zinad for stepping in at short notice, considering he only fought a month prior.

Dmitry Bivol came in at the 175 limit and Zinad weighed 174.2 pounds.

Dmitry Bivol controlled the fight in round 2 with his jab as Zinad fought with caution.

The end came in the sixth when Dmitry Bivol sent Zinad into the ropes following a barrage of heavy shots.

Dmitry Bivol weighed 174.12 pounds and Beterbiev came in just under the limit at 174.9 pounds.

Where Dmitry Bivol was landing combinations, Beterbiev was coming forward and landing one punch at a time.

Dmitry Bivol stood toe-to-toe with Beterbiev in round 7, at one point landing five unanswered punches.

Dmitry Bivol's eye began to swell in round 8 and he spent most of round 9 moving around avoiding Beterbiev's power.

Referee Taylor was then forced into action again in round 11, warning Dmitry Bivol for pushing Beterbiev's head down.

Many believed Dmitry Bivol did enough to win, but understood it was a razor-close fight.

Dmitry Bivol always beat it and it was so hard, even he reached my eye.

Dmitry Bivol's team knew the decision would not be overturned, but rather it was done to help force an immediate rematch.

Dmitry Bivol discussed the changes he would making during an interview.

Dmitry Bivol explained because Riyadh Season ends in February, it meant the rematch could take place in October 2025.

Dmitry Bivol wanted to remove doubt in the rematch and to win more convincingly to ensure he got his hand raised at the end.

Dmitry Bivol re-iterated what he said after the first fight, that he would increase his endurance and throw more punches, staying busy throughout the fight.

Beterbiev said they both know each other in the ring, but assumed Dmitry Bivol would have a different game plan heading into the rematch.

Dmitry Bivol was more relaxed and showed more patience in the rematch.

Dmitry Bivol used combinations, superior hand speed and movement to win.

Dmitry Bivol's output reduced and Beterbiev was able to out-land him.

Beterbiev's pace slowed down and Dmitry Bivol began to use his movement and circle around, landing crisp combinations.

Dmitry Bivol stalked Bivol managed to open up a cut on Bivol's left eyebrow.

Compubox showed a significant change in output for Dmitry Bivol compared to the first bout.

Dmitry Bivol was credited in landing 170 of 574 punches thrown, while Beterbiev landed 121 of his 688 thrown.

Dmitry Bivol landed more than Beterbiev in 9 of the 12 rounds.

Some media outlets stated it wouldn't be a bad idea if Dmitry Bivol defended his titles against a top contender next.

Dmitry Bivol felt, Bivol would win the trilogy more convincingly, if it happened.

Dmitry Bivol stated he had sent a large offer to Bivol's team and was yet to hear back.