Dmitry Bivol has no desire to find out From the time he started boxing as a six-year-old, Dmitry Bivol has drawn inspiration by wondering what it’d be like to be considered the best boxer in the world.
As he lifted himself up the fight game’s proverbial ladder, he paused to observe the seemingly effortless brilliance of his favorite fighter, Roy Jones Jr., who fittingly dominated the light-heavyweight division where Bivol reigns today.
“If it wasn’t for Roy Jones, maybe I would not be here, because I learned from, and enjoyed, his fights,” Bivol told BoxingScene and ProBox TV in a Monday interview.
“I watched him and enjoyed how light he was in the ring, how much he enjoyed being in the ring. It was a joy for him to be in there. He was not just going in there to survive, was not working hard, having drama. No, he was enjoying the fight. I liked seeing this.”
Those who prepare best, Bivol reasoned, are the ones who take the hardness out of an otherwise brutal night in the ring.
“I’m trying to enjoy the process as well,” Bivol said.
That explains how effectively Bivol previously dissected four-division champion Canelo Alvarez two years ago, refusing to wilt in the face of Alvarez’s best punches while repeatedly peppering the face of boxing with a steady dose of hard right hands that dictated the bout and paced the unanimous-decision victory.
And now comes the next step up, Saturday’s showdown in Saudi Arabia for the undisputed light heavyweight championship against unbeaten three-belt champion and Russian countryman Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs).
To realize that childhood dream, Bivol trained in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan for nearly a month, then kept things rugged with a 45-day camp in Turkey.
Savage. Brutal. Intimidating.
All words that describe Beterbiev.
And all the attributes of a training camp that Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) conquered, hoping it will allow him to prevail in the style he so long has admired of Jones.
“To be honest, all my skills should be at the highest level. Not only speed. Not only movement. Everything. My jab. My right hand. My strength. To be aware of danger,” Bivol said. “Everything needs to be at the highest level.”
By Lance Pugmire