By Igor Lazorin, tass
Promoter Andrei Ryabinsky of World of Boxing believes he's got the next king of the light heavyweight division, World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Dmitry Bivol.
On Saturday in Monaco, 26-year-old Bivol retained his world title for the first time with a vicious first round knockout of Australian contender Trent Broadhurst - which was televised by HBO in the United Stated.
"The Australian is a good boxer, but he had no chance against Dmitry. He was afraid of him," Ryabinsky said. "Dmitry is better, he read the opponent, and it was clear in the first round how it would end. Dmitry is definitely the leader [in his weight division]. He has the opportunity to collect a lot of belts, if not all of them. Someone might be able to give Bivol substantial resistance - I just don't see anyone at the moment who could do it."
There are some tough fighters in the weight class, but Ryabisnky believes Bivol will overcome all of them.
"It will be interesting for us [to hold unification fights], although it will take time. Kovalev and Beterbiev are great boxers, but now young guys like Bivol are coming up in boxing and starting to punch their way to the top," added Ryabinsky.
Bivol held the WBA's interim title and eventually became the full world champion after Badou Jack, who won the belt from Nathan Cleverly in September, vacated the title to pursue other opportunities.
The undefeated Russian is handled by manager Vadim Kornilov and assisted by Main Events, although there is no promotional deal with them.
Two more Russian fighters will be competing for world titles this month.
Another Russian boxer Sergey Kovalev will fight on November 25 against Ukrainian Vyacheslav Shabransky for the vacant world title under the World Boxing Organization (WBO), and Arthur Beterbiev will meet with the German Enrico Kelling on the 11th of November in a duel for the vacant title of the International Boxing Federation (IBF).