Russian world champion receives prestigious boxing award
Russian WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol has been recognized as the Fighter of the Year by the boxing commission Read Full Article at RT.com
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Dmitry Bivol has been recognized as Fighter of the Year by the WBA
The WBA has honored light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol by naming the Russian its Fighter of the Year on Monday.
Bivol received the accolade at the WBA Centennial convention being held in Orlando, where boxing legends and former world champions such as Evander Holyfield, Bernard Hopkins, and Miguel Cotto were also in attendance.
Bivol, who was born in Kyrgyzstan and moved to St. Petersburg as a child, was given the prestigious award due to his impressive exploits in 2022.
On May 7, he successfully defended his WBA belt in Las Vegas and stunned the sports world when handing Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez his first defeat since 2013.
The Mexican was widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet at the time, but Bivol outclassed him and roared to a unanimous decision with scores of 115–113 on all three judges’ cards.
The WBA then ordered Bivol, 31, to make a mandatory title defense against unbeaten former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez on November 5.