For the undefeated Russian boxer, a fight with Pascal is likely to become one of the most difficult title defenses. The former owner of the WBC light heavyweight belt, like Cuban Sullivan Barrera, is one of the most masterful and experienced opponents among those Bivolu has encountered.
In recent years, it is in this weight class that the largest number of Russian champions have appeared. They now have half the titles in the main versions, as well as one in the International category. RT talks about the main hopes of Russia in the light heavyweight.
Dmitry Bivol
Of course, it is the 27-year-old Bivol - the most promising representative of the country at light heavyweight. The silver medalist of the Universiade 2013 began his career in professionals in November 2014 and has already managed to hold 14 fights. And Bivol spoke not only at home, but also in the United States, which had a positive impact on his prospects.
In just two years, Dmitry won the title of interim WBA world champion. Bivol spent all 12 rounds with Felix Valera from the Dominican Republic and won a landslide victory with a judicial decision. Even then, there was a huge potential in him, but he could not climb to the next step and fight for the title of regular title holder. He was owned by the undefeated American Andre Ward, who first solved issues for a long time with Sergey Kovalev, and then ended his career.
So Bivol without a fight received the desired title, after which he defended it three times. And only one of the battles can be called a warm-up. After he knocked out a little-known Australian Trent Broadhurst in the first round, Sullivan Barrera and Isaac Chilemba became his rivals. Both by this point had already lost zero in the “Defeats” column, but lost to extremely strong opponents. Thus, the Cuban lost only to Ward, and among the offenders of the Malawian were world champions Sergey Kovalev, Tony Bellew and Eleder Alvarez.
Bivol successfully coped with the trials. First, he knocked out Barrera in the final, 12th round, and after that he very confidently fought Chilemba. It lasted the entire distance, but immediately two judges gave the Russian an unconditional advantage. Pascal, who spent the last fights with former UFC fighter Steve Bosse and the little-known American boxer of Egyptian origin Ahmed Elbiali, should not make big problems for him.
Nevertheless, Bivol himself is restrained in the comments. He stated that the Canadian boxer remains dangerous even at 36 years old.
“Even when I was an amateur, I watched Pascal and Hopkins fight. Then Jean was 27 or 28 years old, and Bernard was about 40. He was old, but he won because it was boxing. You need to be concentrated in every fight. For me, this is a good challenge, because a Canadian is a very experienced athlete and a former champion, ”said Bivol in an interview with the Behind the Gloves YouTube channel.
Unlike most athletes who prefer to move into heavier weight categories, Dmitry, on the contrary, is not opposed to sinking into second medium weight to meet with current WBA champion Callum Smith.
“I could meet the limit, because for the light heavyweight division I’m not that big. Fighting against champions in another division is good for me and for history, but it would be too difficult for me to climb higher, ”Xsport quotes Bivol.
Arthur Beterbiev
The career of Bivol and Beterbiev is in many ways similar. Like his colleague, Arthur successfully performed in amateur boxing, however, somewhat longer and brighter. The champion and silver medalist of the World Championship, two-time winner of the European Championship, two participants of the Olympic Games - a serious track record. He could have become even more impressive if it were not for the transition to a heavy weight, unaccustomed to an athlete (up to 91 kg in an amateur box) and two defeats from Alexander Usik.
Beterbiev began his professional career in 2013, he spent only one fight less than his compatriot. Unlike the fights of Bivol, all the fights of Beterbiev ended ahead of schedule, only one was delayed for more than seven rounds. The fight with the German Erik Koelling almost ended on points, but in the final three-minute Arthur still managed to send an opponent to the ring.
It is worth noting that among Beterbiev’s former rivals are mainly veterans on a career decline, of which only Gabriel Campillo can boast the title of world champion. However, the Spaniard owned it back in 2009 and, after one battle, lost to Beybut Shumenov of Kazakhstan. By the time of the meeting with Arthur, he had already suffered three defeats in seven fights and was not considered a dangerous opponent.
Beterbiev’s next opponent will be the rather masterly Joe Smith, Jr. The American, who is known by the nickname of the Irish Bomber, owned the WBC title, but gave it to Barrera. Among his achievements is the victory over the strong Pole Andrzej Fofar. It was also he who last hit Bernard Hopkins, sending the legendary athlete knocked out in the eighth round.
In the event that Arthur can crush such a serious opponent, he will face the prospect of unification matches with other champions. At the same time, Beterbiev had already stated that he was ready to fight with his compatriots if this would benefit his career.
“I am ready to meet with anyone. If we are moving towards the union of titles, then I have no preferences between Dmitry Bivol, Sergey Kovalev or Adonis Stevenson. My goal is to unite all titles, ”Beterbieva quotes Journal de Montreal.
Sergey Kovalev
In the summer, the Crusher was considered the best Russian light heavyweight boxer. Kovalev recovered after two sensitive defeats from Andre Ward, regained the WBO belt and was ready to re-start the campaign for the title of absolute champion in his weight category. All struck out a shocking knockout in a battle with Eleder Alvarez. Sergei confidently led the fight, gradually building up the initiative, but he got too carried away and missed the powerful blow of the Cuban.
After the fight, Kovalyov was very upset and even allowed himself to think about a possible retirement, but after a while he changed his mind. Failure in the fight with the Cuban forced him to take serious steps, one of which was the next change of coach. The place of Abror Tursunpulatov was taken by Buddy Mikgirt, famous for working with such famous boxers as Antonio Tarver, Arturo Gatti, Hasim Rahman and Lamon Brewster.
“He was looking for coaches, and McGirt said he wanted to try. Sergey went to Buddy. He practiced with him a couple of times and said that he liked it and he wants to continue working together, ”said Kovalev manager Egis Klimas in a conversation with BoxingScene.
In recent years, Kovalev had the reputation of a very capricious athlete who gets along hard with coaches. He previously worked under the guidance of mentor Gennady Golovkin Abel Sanchez, as well as John David Jackson, known for working with Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins. However, Sergei was unable to improve relations with any of them, and the separation with the latter turned out to be particularly tense.
“Once Kovalev made me angry when he said that he created himself. I thought maybe I misunderstood his English. Besides, Sergey is a racist. He showed it in a certain way. He positions himself as a good guy in public, but when he is alone, he becomes a rude and dirty person. Even those people who are friends with him speak ill of him behind his back, ”said Jackson.
As Klimas noted, now Kovalev has no choice but to fully trust McGirth and unquestioningly follow his recommendations in preparation for a rematch with Alvarez. It seems that the boxer himself is also confident that his career depends on the outcome of a future fight with a Cuban.
“The fight is scheduled for February 2 and will be held in Dallas. This time I have the last chance to prove to myself that I can still box at the highest level. Otherwise, it's time to end a career, and so full of high-profile events, ”Kovalev wrote on his Instagram page.
Talents
However, the representation of the Russians in this weight category does not end there. Two more athletes are in the top 10 of at least one of the four main organizations. One of them - Igor Mikhalkin, who fought with Kovalyov in March, but lost by technical knockout in the seventh round, which did not prevent him from keeping the fourth place in the WBC rating.
During his career, the 33-year-old athlete had 23 fights, in 21 one of which he won (nine - ahead of schedule). In addition to defeat in the battle with Kovalev, he also lost to Alexey Kuzemsky, who had already hung his gloves on a nail. It is noteworthy that in his last fight the Pole lost to Jean Pascal.
But if Mikhalkin is a fairly old athlete, then Umar Salamov can be safely attributed to the number of young and promising. The 24-year-old boxer from Chechnya also did not avoid defeats, but at the moment he has a series of three victories. This allowed him to win the WBO International light heavyweight title.
Unlike Igor, Umar is a bright puncher who completed 17 out of 22 victories ahead of schedule. The championship battle with German Denis Liebau did not last even two rounds, and the final point was a powerful blow to the liver in the performance of Salamov. This helped the Russian to climb the seventh line of the IBF ranking and the tenth in the WBC and WBO rankings, which is a serious claim to success.
At the same time, Salamov has already challenged the current light heavyweight champions - his compatriot Bivol and Cuban Alvarez.
“I have seen the fights of both Bivol and Alvarez. I can say with confidence that when I get my opportunity, I will beat them both. I am the best light heavyweight in the world and I look forward to proving it to boxing fans fighting the best! ”- Salamov quotes Sportbox.