American WBO world light heavyweight champion (up to 79.4 kg) Joe Smith Jr. (28-3, 22 KOs) claims that he was not surprised by the victory of Russian Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) over Mexican Canelo Alvarez on May 8 and even slightly improved his financial condition.
Recall that Smith fought Bivol in March 2019 and lost on points, and next weekend he will have a unification fight with another Russian, WBC and IBF title holder Artur Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs).
“I thought Bivol had a great chance of winning this fight based on their styles,” Smith told
DAZN. – I had a feeling that Canelo is used to aggressive guys who constantly try to knock him out and go forward, while Bivol is a different type of fighter. He strikes selectively and moves.”
“In the end, everything turned out exactly as I expected. By the way, I bet on Bivol. I put some money on him to win, ”says Joe.
The American confirmed that in the event of a victory over Beterbiev, he would like to have a rematch with Bivol:
“I want Bivol, I want his belt. I want to be the undisputed champion.”
Meanwhile, experts believe that Bivol does not need the winner of the Beterbiev-Smith fight now.