Dmitry Bivol achieved what many saw as impossible: beat Canelo Álvarez and hand him his first defeat in nine years. How did he do it? He himself revealed part of his strategy in an interview with DAZN.
Bivol, who remains undefeated with a record of 20 wins and 11 by knockout, he recounted how he prepared for the fight, something that was key to taking him to victory, and also what he did in the ring to contain it, reduce it and defeat it.
His path to victory began from the camp, since he studied Canelo and looked for sparring partners with strength, musculature and fighting style similar to that of the Mexican, that’s why he came to the fight with the necessary experience to defeat him.
“I sparred with Brandon Adams, he has a good left hook and body shots, good velocity. His height is similar (to Canelo). And I trained with a Georgian fighter, Niko, I don’t remember his last name, but he’s good, he has good combination work and a good left hook. And of course I trained with Israil Madrimov, you know him, he’s really rare with a good defense. He uses his body, his legs and he’s a good fighter with a good punch and left hook. Of course, I can’t find sparring partners like Canelo, but I can find some with skills like the ones he has”, explained the Russian.
Regarding the power of Canelo’s fists, the one that weighed so much in the super middleweights and that seems to have fallen short in the light heavyweight, Bivol did not say that it was soft, but he acknowledged that he felt the punch.
“He has a good shot, he has good power. He can compete against anyone in the light heavyweight division. Absolutely, it has enough power”, he added.
On why he was not defeated if his rival had that power, Dmitry explained that his good defense work saved him.
“My guard helped me, he saved my head, he saved my body . I took a lot of punches to my arm, left hooks and body shots. When he hit me in the arms, he was wasting his power and energy”, he said.
And since he touched on the subject of blows to the arm, a strategy that Saúl Álvarez used to beat Callum Smith, who destroyed his biceps and thereby reduced the strength of his blows, the Russian WBA champion said that he already hoped that he would also try that with him, but that he knew it would not work because he was used to it.
“I have a bruise, a big bruise. A little sore, but I can still throw the jab. When I was training in boot camp, my sparring partners would sometimes hit my arm. That was part of the plan, hitting Bivol in the arms and shoulder in a match. So of course I expected it. I saw his fight with Callum Smith and I knew it”, he explained.
Finally, he reported that he himself did not expect the judges to gave the victory by decision, although he felt like a winner in the ring, since he was aware that he had beaten the Mexican.
“When you listen 115-113 of all the judges. For a second I thought, ‘Oh, maybe today is not my day. But when I heard, ‘And still’, yes, they made the right decision. He won a maximum of four rounds , I think, for me”, he sentenced.
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