“I am a product of the Soviet Union.” Bivol’s interview on Beterbiev and more

World champion according to WBA Super light heavyweight (up to 79.4 kg) Russian Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) gave
press conference for local media.

At the event, the “super champion” spoke about his origins, his attitude to early completion of fights, his feelings about not fully completed work in the ring, about missed power punches, about the qualities of Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KO) and the desire to continue to develop boxing after the end of his professional career.

– Dim, different people often call you their own. In Russia, in Kyrgyzstan, in Moldova. Over the past year, have you heard more often that you are called your own somewhere else? And for yourself, what countries, what people, what do you consider your own?

– In fact, this question has been with me since childhood. Who am I? To whom do I belong more? I was born in Kyrgyzstan. I have Korean, Moldovan blood. I speak only Russian, I have been living in St. Petersburg since I was 11 years old. As a result, at some point I realized that I was a clear example of a man of the Soviet Union. I am a product of the Soviet Union, when all the Republics were together, it was my parents who met in Russia, and I was born in Kyrgyzstan. I am a product of the Soviet Union. Yes, it so happened that everything fell apart and then such a question came to my mind. I belong to everyone – to Kyrgyzstan, and to Russia, and to Moldova, and to Korea, although I have never been there. However, Korean blood flows in me.

– You said that your idols are Roy Jones and Mike Tyson. Please tell me, do you have the desire and intention to take even more fights ahead of schedule?

– My idols in childhood – yes. Now my idol… I really love the fights of Sugar Ray Leonard. I still watch them before fights, it happens. As for knockouts, of course, there is always a desire to end fights earlier than possible. But I’m one of those people who enter the ring … I clearly realize calmly where I am. I clearly understand what I’m doing. I really enjoy it the most, to be honest. When I’m in the ring, when I’m boxing, I really get high. There are moments when you see that the opponent is in an uncomfortable position, you need to take risks, more, more, risks, risks – then you can achieve this. Somewhere, maybe, I let go of my rivals, I don’t take any risks. Yes, I have such a task – to enter the ring by hook or by crook to “turn off” a person – I don’t have that. I have more to enjoy the process in the ring, to put my opponent in such an uncomfortable position that he would just rather want this fight to end, that he would just want to get out of the ring and say: “I can’t, I’m tired of him enough for me.” I get pleasure from this when your opponent’s gaze changes, when he is in such uncomfortable positions. That’s how I love it. When he hits and misses. When he wants to do something, but he can’t. When he does not expect and suddenly gets hit on the head. I like this here.

– You have never lost. This is great. But do you have excitement – “can I really lose today?” Or are such experiences for those who train little, and this is not about you at all?

– These are the experiences that I can lose, to be honest, I don’t have. I have feelings that I won’t be able to do what I have to do. Here it is. That is, I train, train, I have to do it in the ring. And I have jitters: “Maybe it won’t work, or maybe I don’t have enough strength for this?” But nevertheless, you start to set yourself up. And it tells you that, in principle, you ran everything that you had to run, you sparred all the sparring sessions that you had to, your sparring partners were no worse than your opponent. You have completed all the tasks and you must be confident in yourself, and you must complete all the tasks that you have set for yourself, all the tasks. Do not raise your hand – such thoughts do not come to mind especially. More such – “you never know what I did what I had to?” This is what scares me.

– Was there at least once in your life when you were close to a knockout? Maybe sparring or is it some kind of fight in which this was not noticed? Did the light turn off?

– Well, straight, so that the light turned off – pah, pah, pah, this was not. There were serious missed blows, yes. I don’t know if it’s possible to feel like you’re about to be knocked out. Of course, there were missed blows, both in sparring and in fights. But, straight, turning off the light – this was not.

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– From whom did the most powerful fly in?

– Probably, with Smith flew in so well. And it is interesting that I saw this blow, I left and saw it. And so it flew like a hammer into a frying pan.

– It turns out that if you hadn’t seen it, then most likely there would have been a knockout?

– Of course. If you do not see the blow, and even more so it is strong, then like the blows of fate, if you do not see them, then they are the most …

– They say about Beterbiev that he is simply incredible power. He defeated them all by knockout. What do you think about the power of Beterbiev? Is it still a myth, or can it really be a person who will demolish everyone who meets him?

“He has a really strong kick. He really has a non-standard physical strength. But that’s why I love boxing, why I love this sport – because this is not athletics, where you are faster, more enduring. Or barbell, where you have to be technical and strong. That is, this is boxing, all the qualities should be here. You have to be smart, you have to be fast, you have to be tough, you have to be strong. And this combination of qualities is different for each boxer. Someone dominates. The same Beterbiev is dominated by his impact force. But usually, if one thing strongly prevails, then what other points can you have a little lower. Therefore, you just need to look for these moments. What prevails – to focus on this, what is worse for you – also take into account. This is absolutely normal.

***

– Of course, I want to stay in boxing after my career. I want to somehow develop this sport. I would really like to see boxing develop better in Kyrgyzstan. My friend, with whom I trained, he is now an honored coach of Kyrgyzstan. And I know these problems from the inside. Basically, of course, these problems are primarily financial, and secondly organizational. I see a lot of talented guys and, of course, I would like to support them somehow. I would like to be some kind of useful person in the development of boxing and further, after my career. Because I know this cuisine all my life, I went from amateurs to professionals. I have some experience that I would like to share somehow. Probably, I will need the right people for this, because there are many such people who have a lot of experience. You need to be surrounded by the right people who can properly extract and share this experience from you.

Meanwhile, Munguya wanted to fight Bivol.