Light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol spent some time talking to boxing media members during today’s grand arrival for his weekend fight with Artur Beterbiev, and fielded questions about his preparations for the fight and what this chance at undisputed means to him. Check out some excerpts from Bivol below.
Bivol on how he’s training to deal with Beterbiev’s power
“Many times people ask me ‘how you going to — what are you going to change for this opponent, what you going to change for that opponent?’ Most of time time I’m working on my good skills. I cannot add something new, I can only improve my skills — it will be better.
“And this is my recommendation for all the fighters. You don’t need to change too much something, you need to prove you good skills.”
On how he rates Beterbiev’s skills compared to his own
“He has a good punch, he’s strong, he’s really strong, he’s good in endurance, and he pressures a lot. And of course to get used to these things, sparring partners help.
“My skills, everybody knows if they watch my fights. I like to use the jab, I like to move.”
On what going undisputed means to him
“It means a lot. It’s like final step in my journey. I had this dream from when I moved to pro from amateur boxing and now I have this chance.”
On if a win over Beterbiev would mean more to him than his win over Canelo
“It’s not about personality, it’s about belt. Of course fighting for the belt is much more meaningful for me, to be marked in the history. It’s a lot. Of course it’s much more meaningful.”