“This man is not from boxing, he is cool in MMA”: Bivol - about McGregor, the scandal with Kovalev and the next opponent

- The last time you appeared in the ring in October. When to wait for your return?

- I hope in April.

- Now there are a lot of rumors about your possible fight with Gilberto Ramirez. Are such negotiations really underway?

“Yes, so these are not rumors.” We will see. I hope he wants to box for a world title.

- Will such a fight be of interest to you only if the WBO champion belt is at stake ?

“No, I can bet my rank on the line.” The fact is that Ramirez is a serious value in boxing. He is the world champion in the second middle weight category. This is an undefeated Mexican fighter who has 40 battles behind him. And this despite the fact that he is only 28 years old. That's cool. In this regard, for me such a fight is of great interest and is a real sporting challenge.

- If the fight takes place, will Ramirez become the most dangerous opponent in your career?

- Yes it is.

- If you were offered to beat the belt of the WBO champion with its former owner Sergey Kovalev, would you agree?

- It depends on what will be at stake. If there are several titles, then, of course, this fight would be interesting to me. But if you fight for mine - that's not it. I do not think that this would be interesting to the public, and to both of us.

- Do you think Kovalev will be able to continue his performances after a sensitive defeat from Saul Alvarez?

- I don’t know, I need to ask him.

• Dmitry Bivol about Sergey Kovalev and Saul Alvarez

- Didn’t it seem to you that he was sure in advance of his defeat?

“I don't think so.” I saw how he was charged emotionally. And if we are talking about his statements on social networks, then this was probably just such an answer to the attacks of haters. Perhaps Sergey already regretted it.

- Do you think this behavior with fans is correct?

- Well, this is Sergey Kovalev, he talks like that. We all know that he can say that.

- How did you respond to the decision of Saul Alvarez to abandon the light heavyweight title?

- He assumed that he would do so, so he reacted calmly to this.

- Do you think the reason is that he was afraid of meeting you and Arthur Beterbiev?

- I don’t think that I was really scared, but it seems to me that he wanted to make a story and return to where it should be. In the weight category in which he is comfortable.

- Do you think you could defeat Canelo?

- If I agreed to fight him, I would believe in success. I think that I have certain boxing qualities that could help make him worthy of competition.

- If you received a good money offer, could you go down to the second average or average weight for the fight with Canelo?

- Yes, and I already said that I would be ready to move to the second middle weight for the sake of a big fight. For example, with the champion in this category.

• Dmitry Bivol about Conor McGregor's fight with Terence Crawford

- That is, it would be a transition for the sake of one fight, or could you still play in the future?

- Most likely for the sake of one, a maximum of two. Not on an ongoing basis.

- In his next battle Beterbiev will fight with Main Fanlun. Is this a dangerous opponent for him?

- This is a very difficult fighter, yes. But I think Arthur will tune in and win.

- Is your best match with Beterbiev better spent in the USA or Russia?

- In my opinion, it is better to do it where people are more interested in him. Let's see who wants to organize this fight.

“Recently, Bob Arum proposed a battle between Conor McGregor and Terence Crawford.” Do you think the Irish has a chance to win?

- Crawford is one of my favorite boxers. At the same time, I saw McGregor boxing, and he did not impress me. So I would like to see more of Terence against Manny Pacquiao or Errol Spence.

- Would you agree to beat the Irish - by the rules of boxing or by the rules of MMA?

- I didn’t think about it. I would still like to fight more with boxers who have titles - in their weight or a lower category. Not yet ready to participate in such battles.

- Is there any amount for which you would still agree?

- In fact, many boxers would go for it if they received a decent financial proposal, what is there to hide. It might seem like an easy job, because McGregor himself is not a boxer. He has good punching technique, but this is not a man from boxing. He's cool in MMA. But we enter the ring not only for the sake of belts, we want to earn money too. So the answer is yes, although I thought about it. It is not my goal to summon McGregor and get such a fight.

- Some still agree to fight according to the rules of mixed martial arts, so that later the viewer became interested in boxing. Would you consider such an opportunity to promote your sport?

- To be honest, I still do not understand whether boxing such as Mayweather - McGregor or Emelianenko - Koklyaev contribute to the popularization of boxing. I don’t even know if this is good or bad for our sport.

- And if you understand what is good?

“If that is true, then yes.” Flag in hand - and go.