WBA Super champion Russian light heavyweight Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) does not hide the fact that the most difficult thing in the process of preparing for the fight with Mexican superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) was to properly set yourself up psychologically.
Underdog coped with the task and brilliantly defeated the leader P4P ratingthanks to which he himself made his debut in the top 10 “pound”.
“Psychologically, it was very difficult,”
Bivol says. Everyone was betting on Canelo to win. But I knew that I could win. I believed in it, and my team also believed. I kept reminding myself that I was the champion. These three words – “you are the champion of the world” – I repeated to myself over and over again. I didn’t look at what they say instagram or in the media. I was just getting ready to fight. Prepare for a new challenge. I did not think that I would have to fight with the “king of the pound”. That is, the secret of success is simple: work hard, work smart, be 100% focused, believe in yourself. This is the combination that worked for me.”
Directly on the preparation for the fight: “Started with 6 rounds of sparring, then moved on to 8 and 10. Every morning I started with a run of two, sometimes three miles. I told myself all the time: “You can do it, you are bigger, you are stronger. Your time has come.” And at some point I felt confident. And during the fight, she grew even stronger, because I saw all his blows and just carefully blocked them with gloves. And when he smeared, my confidence did become more and more. At the start of the fight, Canelo had several hits in a row. How much? Somewhere around five. He has heavy fists. But it helped me to pull myself together and answer him in kind.”
“I tried to win every round, because I understood that I had to fight not only with him, but also with the judges. Therefore, I was determined to take absolutely all the rounds. No, I couldn’t do it, but I honestly tried. He is a great fighter with excellent defense. So I also missed a lot of punches. But I got more,” Bivol modestly assessed his performance.
Meanwhile, the American top coach suggests that Canelo simply underestimated Bivol, and the legendary Mike Tyson called the Mexican’s mistake and gave advice on how to defeat the Russian in a rematch.
In order not to miss the most interesting news from the world of boxing and MMA, subscribe to us at
Facebook and
Google News.