LAS VEGAS – Dmitry Bivol started chasing the opportunity that awaits him Saturday night 3½ years ago.
The unbeaten WBA light heavyweight champion made it clear then that he was more than willing to drop down to the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds for the chance to face Canelo Alvarez. The ambitious Alvarez eventually made his way back to the light heavyweight division, however, which has given Bivol the type of high-profile fight he always wanted.
Along the way, a showdown with Russian knockout artist Artur Beterbiev eluded Bivol, which left him to make title defenses against Isaac Chilemba, Sullivan Barrera, Jean Pascal, Joe Smith Jr., Lenin Castillo, Craig Richards and Umar Salamov. Bivol beat Smith by unanimous decision before Smith won the WBO light heavyweight title and Pascal, a former WBC and WBA champ, was past his prime when Bivol outpointed him relatively easily.
Though Bivol wanted legacy-enhancing fights all along, the humble Kyrgyzstan native never felt as though elite-level opponents shied away from fighting him. In fact, the tactical Bivol was brutally honest when he assessed what took so long for him to get this career-defining fight.
“I don’t think that I was avoided,” Bivol told a small group of reporters at MGM Grand. “Maybe [it was] just not interesting to make a fight [with] me because I’m not known. And I know this business. It’s fine, OK, no problem. But now, I got the fight. Yeah, I’m glad. I think [of it] like that.”
Bivol’s boxing style has been effective, yet not exactly entertaining at times. Some industry insiders insist that the 6-foot technician has the ability to upset Alvarez because his jab, ring IQ, range and athleticism could prevent the four-division champion from getting inside on him, where Alvarez always is most effective.
Caesars Sportsbook still lists Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) as more than a 5-1 favorite to beat Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) in their DAZN pay-per-view main event Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Alvarez acknowledged, though, that he expects a more troublesome bout versus Bivol than Russia’s Sergey Kovalev gave him in November 2019 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Alvarez-Kovalev fight was very close (96-94 and 96-94 for Alvarez, 95-95) before Alvarez knocked Kovalev cold with a right hand early in the final minute of the 11th round to win the WBO light heavyweight title.
Guadalajara’s Alvarez never defended that WBO belt, which enabled Smith to win a then-unclaimed championship after Alvarez vacated it. That left Bivol to pursue lower-profile opportunities while Alvarez went on to become boxing’s first fully unified super middleweight champion of the sport’s four-belt era.
“I just [didn’t] think about it,” Bivol said regarding fighting Alvarez. “I forget and went to my own road. And when he said, ‘I wanna be the undisputed [at] 168,’ I said, ‘Yes, one of the days he will be and then he come [back] to the 175 division. Just be patient and he will be one of your potential opponents again, and maybe this fight will happen.’ ”
Though thrilled to finally have the chance to showcase his skills on this huge stage, the St. Petersburg, Russia resident isn’t certain exactly why Alvarez chose him.
“I don’t know why and it doesn’t matter for me,” Bivol said. “Maybe for money, maybe for belt, maybe for something else. It doesn’t matter. I just think about I got this fight, I got this date, and I have to make my work [the] best.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
