Dmitry Bivol wants all the smoke!
WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (15-0, 11KOs) is looking for the best possible matchups this fall. Bivol recently tweeted that his team has reached out to representatives from Sergey Kovalev, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and Artur Bieterbiev.
He also mentioned he’d be interested in fighting Saul “Canelo” Alvarez if he’s interested in challenging himself. It would be great for fans if one of these fighters takes a fight with Bivol.
There are several takeaways from the WBA champ’s tweet, and here’s a quick breakdown of what it all means.
First, it shows that Bivol is looking to achieve light heavyweight supremacy. The fighters mentioned all hold titles in the division. Gvozdyk holds the WBC, Bieterbiev holds the IBF, and Kovalev has the WBO. This is a very logical set of call-outs because fall is the busiest part of the boxing year and the Russian champion is putting himself into position early.
Secondly, is the “Canelo effect”. The Mexican superstar literally has potential challengers across five divisions! The short list is Errol Spence at welterweight and Julian Williams at super welterweight.
Then there is Golovkin, Andrade, and Jermall Charlo at middleweight. Lastly, Callum Smith at super middleweight, Sergey Kovalev at light heavyweight and now Dmitry Bivol as well.
Lastly, this might be the best way to do business. Put as many feelers out as possible and pick from what comes back. The current business model for most fighters is to try and position yourself for a particular fight.
This comes with a lot of risk because if you’re the B-side, you’re literally putting your career on hold at the whims of someone who have more options. What the Russian champ is doing is more likely to yield better results. He may not get the top option on his list, however, he’ll likely get a good option and continue to build his brand.
By: Corey Cunningham
