On June 1, a great evening of professional boxing will take place in Saudi Arabia. In the main event of the tournament, Russian WBA world light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will defend his belt.
Of course, all boxing fans, and especially the Russians, had great plans and expectations for this tournament. Dmitry Bivol was originally planned to have a unification fight with another Russian light heavyweight champion, Artur Beterbiev. Arthur holds the other three belts in the division, so his fight with Bivol was supposed to reveal the absolute world champion.
The fight between Bivol and Beterbiev was supposed to shake up the light heavyweight division. After Dmitry’s fight with Saúl Álvarez, there were no more high-profile fights in the division: Bivol and Beterbiev made mandatory defenses of their belts, but, of course, everyone wanted to see their face-to-face confrontation. The Arab sheikhs managed to satisfy the requests of both teams and the fight was officially announced. Dmitry and Arthur even held the first press conference and a battle of opinions. But unfortunately: Beterbiev suffered a serious injury and was out indefinitely.
In order not to lose at least Bivol from the tournament poster and not postpone the fight with his participation, as was the case with Tyson Fury, the tournament organizers found a replacement for Beterbiev. The undefeated Malik Zinad entered a duel with the Russian.
Online transmission of the tournament:
Live
Eighth title defense against Bivol and Wilder’s last chance to save his career. LIVE
Despite the “zero” in the loss column, little is known about the Libyan boxer. By the way, Zinad is only in the IBF rankings; according to the WBA, Malik is not even in the top 15. Despite a 22-0 record, he faced no serious opposition. Only in the last three fights did the Libyan boxer meet opponents who had approximately the same records, and immediately Zinad stopped winning by knockout – the Libyan made it to his last final in 2021.
With no challenger fights, no local belts, Malik suddenly gets a title fight against dominant WBA champion Dmitry Bivol. Of course, the sheikhs did this to save the tournament, but it seems that only Zinad will benefit from such a fight, who will increase his media exposure and recognition even in the event of a crushing defeat. For everyone else, it’s a big disappointment to see another classic Bivol beatdown instead of a competitive fight with Beterbiev.
Why is Bivol so good?
A hitless superstar? We explain why Bivol is great even without knockouts
And the Russian champion is not to blame for this situation. To be honest, apart from a fight with Arthur or a rematch with Canelo, there are no more suitable challenges for Bivol and, indeed, for Beterbiev. In the four major versions of the light heavyweight division, there will be at most a dozen boxers in the top 15 who can claim the title. Some of them have already lost to Bivol or Beterbiev, like Anthony Yarde or Callum Smith, and others simply refuse to fight for the championship belt, citing injuries or lack of money, like Joshua Buatsi, who has already been offered a fight with Bivol. . more than once . Yes, there is a fight between David Benavidez and Alexander Gvozdyk, which will take place in the summer and will present an interesting new contender for the title, but this will only be in the summer.
Let’s study Bivol rates:
I always received less than what I deserved. Counting Bivol’s money
Meanwhile, Bivol is forced to make another mandatory defense against an unknown boxer. Before Dmitry’s fight with Lyndon Arthur, the Western press tried to raise interest in this confrontation: they say, do not underestimate the British, he may surprise. Lindon really surprised me with the skill with which he took Bivol’s punches throughout the 12 rounds, without even trying to respond.
Dmitry Bivol in the ring
Photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Dmitry does not face the problem of underestimating his opponent. He takes every fight very seriously, whether it’s against Canelo or the unknown Malik Zinad. Next weekend, Bivol once again needs to prove that he is many times superior to all contenders and needs high-profile fights, as he fully deserves them.
