BoxRec

Dmitry Bivol Expects Tough Fight With Umar Salamov on December 11

WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol of Russia is training hard for a scheduled defense in December and is currently preparing with three sparring partners at a training camp in Krasnodar.

Bivol will defend his belt against compatriot on December 11 in Yekaterinburg.

Bivol has no defeats in the professional ring, having scored 18 victories (11 of them by knockout). Salamov has picked up 26 wins (19 by knockout) with one defeat.

“I know my opponent, I've seen some of his fights,” Bivol said to Oleg Bogatov.

“This is a tall guy, a serious and fairly technical boxer. He should have fought for the WBO championship - now I will meet with him. I have been training for several weeks in Krasnodar, and I plan to fly to Yekaterinburg on December 4 or 5. Previously, two sparring partners were working with me, now three are training, and then there will be two again. There is someone to train with and there are always spare sparring partners.

"All of [the sparring partners] are our guys who act in a manner similar to that of Salamov. What is Salamov's danger? First, this is boxing, and, second, we have an opponent who also wants to win and who has his own ambitions. It is always better in a fight to first study your opponent."

The bout will be the second of the year for Bivol, who won a twelve round unanimous decision over British fighter Craig Richards in May.

Salamov was scheduled to take part in a WBO light heavyweight tournament, which saw Joe Smith become the eventual winner. For Salamov's part, he was knocked out of the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19. Salamov has won seven fights in a row since suffering his sole career defeat, a decision loss to Damien Hooper in 2017.

Doubt DAZN will pick this up due to Benn-Algieri being on.

Maybe Noxbation can pick it up.

Fight Week!

It’s been picked up by DAZN in the U.K.

Should actually be a good fight I think.

maverick23 wrote: ↑06 Dec 2021, 07:51 It’s been picked up by DAZN in the U.K.

Should actually be a good fight I think.

It’s gonna clash with Benn though isn’t it?

We gonna be able to just switch between the cards?

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑06 Dec 2021, 08:41

maverick23 wrote: ↑06 Dec 2021, 07:51 It’s been picked up by DAZN in the U.K.

Should actually be a good fight I think.

It’s gonna clash with Benn though isn’t it?

We gonna be able to just switch between the cards?

Yep - will do but I’ll just watch Bivol straight after the show without knowing the result.

maverick23 wrote: ↑06 Dec 2021, 08:48

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑06 Dec 2021, 08:41

maverick23 wrote: ↑06 Dec 2021, 07:51 It’s been picked up by DAZN in the U.K.

Should actually be a good fight I think.

It’s gonna clash with Benn though isn’t it?

We gonna be able to just switch between the cards?

Yep - will do but I’ll just watch Bivol straight after the show without knowing the result.

Yeh that’s true.

Bivol is 1/20 to win which is very short. The question is, is Salamov capable of anything here?

Because Bivol is beatable and the odds aren't bad on Salamov.

Bivol-Salamov final press conference

Dmitry Bivol: “This is a worthy contender. He is a fairly technical boxer. He is tall. This is a serious contender…it’s nice to box at home. I understand that I need to develop my career, roughly speaking, in America, but I also need to box at home and please my audience with fights.”

Umar Salamov: “I have been preparing for battle since August 1, exactly four months. But I wasn’t preparing for Bivol, I was preparing for [Joe] Smith. I had to change my preparation a little, but the most important thing is that I am physically ready to box 12 rounds. We made minor changes to the battle plan, and that’s all.”

Anyone watching this?

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑11 Dec 2021, 16:29 Anyone watching this?

Yes the commmetary is super biased

JamesPhilips wrote: ↑11 Dec 2021, 16:33

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑11 Dec 2021, 16:29 Anyone watching this?

Yes the commmetary is super biased

You think? Maybe a little but Bivol is in complete control. has won every round, and is finding it all ridiculously straightforward. Umar is a tough brother though.

Bivol completely outclassed Salamov. Well, it was expected. Salamov didn't win a round. Hopefully there'll be a unification against Beter, after he handles Browne.

Another typical Bivol performance, looks good dominates Salamov, far superior technically, boxes behind the jab, works the distance excellent, I did give Salamov the opener on account of some nice right hands that seemed to be getting ignored from commentary but he fizzled out and Bivol simply outboxed him for the rest of the fight, no frills stuff, would've liked to have seen him cut loose more, he did two or three times but reverted to type and was content to win another wide UD

handsofstone wrote: ↑12 Dec 2021, 07:32 Bivol simply outboxed him for the rest of the fight, no frills stuff, would've liked to have seen him cut loose more, he did two or three times but reverted to type and was content to win another wide UD

Always feel like this watching Bivol too, classy operator but never looks to close the show, not an issue against the likes of Salamov but I wonder if it may come back to bite him in the future. Great jab and judgment of distance I have to say.

NoScoutingReports wrote: ↑13 Dec 2021, 13:39

handsofstone wrote: ↑12 Dec 2021, 07:32 Bivol simply outboxed him for the rest of the fight, no frills stuff, would've liked to have seen him cut loose more, he did two or three times but reverted to type and was content to win another wide UD

Always feel like this watching Bivol too, classy operator but never looks to close the show, not an issue against the likes of Salamov but I wonder if it may come back to bite him in the future. Great jab and judgment of distance I have to say.

Apart from when he won the belt in Monaco. 1st round KO it was.

Was then being heavily hyped and I don't think he's scored a stoppage since.

Maybe one

Think he stopped Barrera late didn't he? Either way he's in real need of that big-name fight/win against a fellow champion/top level operator, Beterbiev the ideal matchup for me but I'd take Zurdo too (another who needs a marquee win or 3).

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Dec 2021, 13:58

NoScoutingReports wrote: ↑13 Dec 2021, 13:39

handsofstone wrote: ↑12 Dec 2021, 07:32 Bivol simply outboxed him for the rest of the fight, no frills stuff, would've liked to have seen him cut loose more, he did two or three times but reverted to type and was content to win another wide UD

Always feel like this watching Bivol too, classy operator but never looks to close the show, not an issue against the likes of Salamov but I wonder if it may come back to bite him in the future. Great jab and judgment of distance I have to say.

Apart from when he won the belt in Monaco. 1st round KO it was.

Was then being heavily hyped and I don't think he's scored a stoppage since.

Maybe one

He's still quality though and I don't think he's a powder puff puncher, it's just he chooses to box and rarely cuts loose

ya i agree

pascal hardly won a round against him, then beat browne and jack

smith hardly won a round against him, then beat alvarez and hart and won a title


he's good, just doesnt go beyond what's needed really

Bivol is real deal. After Beterbiev beat Gvozdyk, it looked like he was the force at the weight. But with recent performances of Bivol and Beter the first one looks more convincing. Anyway, gotta see the upcoming fight of Beter.

Bivol just seems bored

JamesPhilips wrote: ↑13 Dec 2021, 16:14 Bivol just seems bored

Cruise control

Bivol dominated but only occasionally looked like he might stop Salamov, who was one tough bastard

Bivol reminds me of those lovely amateur stylists who have come out of West Ham ABC but, of course, he is much better.

When he smashes that right hand through the opponents guard he looks a million dollars.