Dmitry Bivol vs Umar Salamov set for December 11 in Russia

[Enlightened-One]

"Dmitry Bivol vs Umar Salamov set for December 11 in Russia"

Dmitry Bivol will make a title defense in just a few weeks.

Dmitry Bivol must be fairly sure he’s not getting that Canelo Alvarez payday next, as the WBA light heavyweight titleholder is now set to defend his belt against Umar Salamov on Dec. 11 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Bivol (18-0, 11 KO) last fought on May 1 in Manchester, England, winning a decision over Craig Richards. His last two title defenses have been against guys considered, at best, fringe contenders, and while Salamov (26-1, 19 KO) isn’t exactly a consensus top five or 10 guy at 175 lbs, he’ll probably be seen as more dangerous coming in than Richards or Lenin Castillo were.

Salamov had been ordered for a shot at WBO titleholder Joe Smith Jr, and that fight was scheduled for October, but Smith tested positive for COVID and is now set to return in a defense against Callum Johnson in January. This date with Bivol answers the question of what happened to the Smith-Salamov idea, I suppose, because while this hasn’t been announced until now, Bivol and Salamov likely both knew it was coming more than a few weeks out from the fight date.

The fight will be Bivol’s first back in Russia since his 2017 win over Robert Berridge.

The Dec. 11 card will also feature junior middleweight Magomed Kurbanov taking on former titlist Patrick Teixeira, and Shavkat Rakhimov’s return against Rilwan Oladosu, among several other fights. No word yet on a U.S. outlet but something will likely come up.

Thoughts?

[Enlightened-One]

I don’t know anything about Umar Salamov. I've never seen him compete.

He claims he was "an elite amateur, winning many national and international tournaments", but I can’t find any record of his achievements.

The RING considered Salamov to be a prospect to watch, but included the caveat about not being “fully convinced” of his potential.

The only thing I know is that Salamov will be celebrating his ninth anniversary competing in the pro ranks, but he hasn’t beaten any sufficiently noteworthy names to appear on my radar.

He’s only won one fight within the last 27 months, which was a split decision victory over a fighter that hasn’t won a single bout for the last three years, losing every contest he’d engaged in during that timeframe.

According to BoxRec, Brian Howard, Bob Ajisafe and Damien Hooper are the highlights of Umar Salamov’s professional career to-date.

This leads me to beg the rather obvious question, if Umar Salamov really is a good fighter, then what on earth has he been up to for the last nine years?

I suspect the lack of career progression, coupled with the short-notice of this bout, means that Salamov isn't that good, resulting in Dmitry Bivol scoring another decision victory.

For sure, I could be wrong about Umar Salamov, but do you really think Eddie Hearn will orchestrate a high-risk low-reward bout (with less than three weeks notice) for one of Matchroom’s biggest names (Dmitry Bivol) that also happens to be standing near the front of the queue to face Canelo during 2022?

[peter barlow]

Umar Salamov was mandatory for Joe Smith Jr but it was cancelled due to visa issues.

Vlasov or Beterbiev would have been better all Russian ties but they seem busy elsewhere. Be interesting if Buatsi Vlasov is rescheduled.

[peter barlow]

[DrDuke]

Salamov hasn't looked special so far. I expect Bivol to win handily.

[gregregegg]

While i dont know how good salamov is, the fact that he lost to hooper and is coming of a split decision with a noone. Seems like it shoud be easy work for Bivol. although at least good size and age.

[Lackeos]

Salamov isn't even in the WBA rankings. Would've been nice if Bivol was defending against Gilberto Ramirez.

[margaret thatcher]

gilby's another guy taking it way too slow

[apollo creed]

Bivol is staying safe and ready for Canelo's payday.

[DrDuke]

Bivol outclassed Salamov in a one-sided fashion.

[Enlightened-One]

There was a twelve-month period from March 2018 when Bivol was on a seriously impressive run of form, beating the likes of Barrera, Chilemba, Pascal and Smith Jr., but he hasn’t really done much for the last three years.

I do recall him looking very poor against Craig Richards.

I haven’t seen the Salamov bout, so I shouldn’t really comment about that, but it’s clear Umar wasn’t a world-beater.

If you look at the timelines though, it appears that Bivol suddenly became risk averse around the same time his name was being mentioned as a potential future Canelo opponent.

Whilst I can understand the reasons why fighters make business decisions, to avoid taking risks that could scupper a future mega payday, surely being inactive, while occasionally facing lacklustre mediocre or horrendously overmatched opposition over a prolonged time period will ultimately erode their ability to compete?

Put it this way, whilst Canelo has been competing against the likes of Callum Smith, Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, Ilunga Makabu and Avni Yildirim, Dmitry Bivol would have only fought Lenin Castillo, Craig Richards and Umar Salamov.

For the record, I’m not singling out Bivol, because the same accusation can be made to other big-names, such as Charlo, Golovkin, Andrade, Benavidez and Beterbiev.

How can a fighter fulfil their potential and compete at their very best on the world's biggest stage, when they do eventually receive their shot at Canelo, after being inactive, only occasionally engaging in meaningless low-key bouts against poor opposition?

[ironbeard]

Bivol still looks like one of the best pure boxers in the sport. Salamov is nothing special but has never been stopped, is very big for the weight, and has a rock solid chin that Bivol checked several times in the fight.

Bivol has extremely quick hands, firing excellent combos behind a constant jab. His movement and footwork is absolutely top of the line, as is his defense, workrate, and conditioning.

Bivol is a joy to watch work.