“The fight could have ended at that point.” The most difficult victory in Bivol’s career.

“The fight could have ended at that point.” The most difficult victory in Bivol’s career.

December 23, 2023, 17:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

Joe Smith brought the Russian as close as possible to failure.

On December 23 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), undefeated Russian boxer Dmitry Bivol will make another, now sixth, defense of the WBA super light heavyweight world title. The opponent will be the British Lyndon Arthur, who, in turn, will defend the IBO belt.

Bivol is considered the clear favorite, as in most of his fights, but there were also cases where this could turn into a big surprise. In March 2019, Dmitry had to fight with the American Joe Smith Jr. Experts unanimously gave preference to the Russian fighter and even assumed an early end to the fight. But Bivol coach Vadim Kornilov urged not to relax: “At this level everyone is dangerous, there are no passable opponents. Opponents always have great motivation in fights with champions. Joe Smith is a puncher, as we saw in his fights with Bernard Hopkins and Andrzej Fonfara, both of whom he defeated by knockout. Strong and aggressive boxer. This is one of the most important fights in Dmitry’s career. Perhaps even the most important to date.”

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Many people knew Smith for his victory over Bernard Hopkins, but at the time of the fight he was already over 50 years old, so Dmitry urged not to overestimate the achievements of his opponent: “How old was Bernard? I respect Hopkins, but he wasn’t at his best when he fought Smith. I watched his fights often and learned a lot from him.”

At the same time, the Russian pointed out that he respects Smith, he simply sees his weaknesses and intends to take advantage of them: “He constantly advances. I’ll try to knock him out. This is a challenge for me. When we met, I saw in his eyes the desire to take off my belt. This will be the key to a brilliant fight. We have different styles. When different boxers meet in the ring, the fight is spectacular. “I think the fans will love it.”

Smith was not known for working patiently with his opponent, but he was known for his radical attacks, which often brought him success. Bivol allowed the American to act as number one, but periodically failed him and counterattacked. And Dmitry’s blows did not allow Joe to prepare blows. Smith did not have a plan B, he continued to act aggressively and moved on. Dmitry avoided exchanges, in some situations he simply ran to the side and tied in the clinch. This fighting style was extremely inconvenient for his opponent, who regularly missed from a distance. Bivol simply interrupted Joe, sometimes shooting him in long bursts. After the seventh round, our fighter’s trainer, Gennady Mashyanov, did not understand why the fight was not over yet: “I can’t imagine how he is feeling.”

The American reached such a point of desperation that in the ninth round he even threw. But in the next three minutes, Smith’s plan to deliver a strong blow almost worked. At the end of the round, Bivol allowed himself to relax and was immediately punished with a right hand to the temple. The Russian was saved by the gong, because even in the corner he was supported by the ropes.

Dmitry later admitted that he was one step away from failure: “The blow was really good, I felt it, I saw it at the end. Yes, I missed a shot and relaxed early. You must always be focused. It was a hard dip. Although his other punches were noticeable, here he hit the line with his ear. It’s good that I finally saw this hit. Otherwise, the battle might have ended. You have to be careful with those blows. Smith knocked me off balance a little with this blow. In the end, I relaxed in those 10 seconds left in the round. This shows once again that we cannot relax.”

Smith tried to take advantage of his success, became more active and continued to put pressure on the Russian boxer, but in the end he hesitated and shortly before the end of the fight he found himself in a dangerous position. Bivol cornered Joe, attacked him with a series of blows and was close to the end, but this time the gong saved his opponent: “Five seconds were not enough. “I had the desire to knock myself out, but the gong stopped me at that moment.”

Let’s look at Dmitry Bivol’s technique:

Why is Bivol so cool? We study the technique of the Russian champion.

Despite Bivol’s certain victory according to the judges’ scorecards (118-110, 119-109, 119-109), the moment that almost cost the Russian the fight was remembered by everyone. This is just another confirmation of how a single punch in boxing can change everything. Bivol managed to survive and defend the title, and now continues to advance towards the goal of becoming the absolute world champion. The main thing in the fight with Arthur is to remember what almost happened to Joe Smith.