Dmitry Bivol Is Zeroed In On Defeating Canelo Alvarez

The unbeaten WBA light heavyweight champion will face boxing’s biggest star on May 7th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where Alvarez will attempt to become a two-time 175-pound world titlist.

Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs), who arrived in Indio, California, earlier this month for training camp from Russia, was asked by reporters if he felt disrespected by Alvarez for already having the remainder of his 2022 schedule planned out.

Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.

For context, the Mexican verbally agreed to a two-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing for DAZN Pay-Per-View bouts on May 7 against Bivol and reportedly September 17 against Golovkin, who also fights April 9 against Ryota Murata in a middleweight title unification, albeit he dismissed the trilogy in recent comments as he prepares for his own championship battle.

Bivol made it clear that Alvarez’s business deals are not of his concern ahead of their fight. “For me, it doesn’t matter, you know? He could have a deal with a lot of boxers after me,” he told FightHype.

Instead of bitterness, the 31-year-old Bivol, who was born in Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan, but has long resided in St. Petersburg, Russia, chose the route of gratitude for having the chance to face the pound-for-pound king in the most significant fight of his career. “It doesn’t bother me because I have a chance,” he continued. “I have an opponent who is going to fight me. This is what I have to think about. This makes me happy. This [is a good opportunity] for me.”

Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.

Bivol was also pondered about the possibility of defeating Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) and ruining a $100 million+ DAZN deal. He reiterated once more that he doesn’t care about Canelo’s business; he only cares about his own preparation. “It doesn’t matter about his money [or my money]. It doesn’t matter who has a deal with him. The main thing [is] we will fight on May 7th. This is what I’m thinking about. We’re preparing for any type of Canelo that’s going to show up that night.  If he’s going to be a boxer, he’s going to be a boxer. We’re going to be prepared for whatever he’s going to bring.”

Alvarez has received the benefit of questionable scoring on a few occasions. Nevertheless, Bivol, who had an immaculate amateur record of 268-15, isn’t worried about that.

“I don’t think about [the judges]. I just have to show my [skills], and it doesn’t matter about [the judges]. If I do my job well, it [feels good inside]. This is [how I want to feel] after the fight.