Dmitry Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) and Canelo Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) made their grand arrivals in Las Vegas today ahead of their bout this Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena.
Bivol will be making a defense of his WBA 175-lb title against what could be the toughest foe of his career against the talented superstar Canelo in the headliner on DAZN PPV at 8:00 p.m. ET.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Canelo does against a fighter with the skills that Bivol possesses because the Mexican star has struggled in the past when facing pure boxers in Floyd Mayweather Jr, Erislandy Lara, and Austin Trout.
The 31-year-old Bivol says he respects Canelo, but not enough for him to go out and defend his WBA title with maximum effort.
Three years ago, some boxing fans believe that Sergey Kovalev didn’t put in maximum effort when he defended his WBO 175-lb title against Canelo in 2019.
Bivol isn’t going to take it easy on Canelo on Saturday because he’s motivated to win, and he understands the importance of this fight.
“On May 7th, I’m looking forward,” said Dmitry Bivol about his title defense against Canelo Alvarez. “I respect him too because he achieved a lot and I can’t say anything bad about him. He’s a good fighter, a good challenge, and a good check of my skills.
“I don’t think who is higher or has more speed. I just think about who boxes better. Why not? Of course, I believe I can,” said Bivol when asked if he can win a decision in Las Vegas.
“If I do my job well, 100%, I should win, said Bivol. “Why am I confident? Because I’m one of the best light heavyweight fighters. If you have no confidence in your skills, you never achieve something.
“You have to believe in your skills. You don’t talk too much about how you’re great, but you just believe. You don’t say, ‘I will win 100%’ No, I just believe. This helps me be confident and be a good boxer in the ring.
“Only God knows who will win, and who will win tomorrow. Only God knows. We can’t just believe. I don’t want to talk about how it’ll be in the ring, but we all saw many of his fights. At the start of the fights, it’s not too much action, but we will see.
“Of course, I want to be undisputed champion. This is why I respect him too. Every good fighter should have a good dream to be undisputed. This is my dream too.
“Of course, I want all the belts, but now I only think about May 7th. I don’t know. I don’t think about their fight. It’s not my business today,” said Bivol when asked about his view on the June 18th light heavyweight unification match between Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr.
“We will see on May 7th. I don’t want to talk about the fight, but I know every fighter has a good sides and bad sides. Every fighter is unique, but maybe he looks like Jean Pascal, and is the same height and his power too and Pascal has good speed too,” said Bivol when asked if Canelo reminds him of any of his past opponents.
“When I was an amateur, I was in competition in Guadalajara. I fight against a Mexican guy too. It was nice. I’m glad Mexican people support me too. It just means they love boxing.
“In Russia, fans love Canelo too because they love boxing. I think five is when I came to the first time to the boxing gym. I try to be focused. I try to think and be cold & analytical about everything,” said Bivol.
