By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten Dmitry Bivol of Russia will be defending his WBA Super World Light Heavyweight Title against fellow countryman Umar Salamov in their homeland this Saturday, December 11th. Bivol last fought in May when he beat Craig Richards by unanimous decision while Salamov beat Sergei Ekimov via a 10-round split decision his last time out in April.
The 30 -year-old Bivol was born in Kyrgyzstan and now fights out of Saint Petersburg, Russia. He had an excellent amateur career with a record of 268-15 and won numerous national championships before turning pro in 2014. Since then he’s boxed 136 rounds and has compiled a perfect record of 18-0 with 11 Kos. He has pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 61.1 per cent, but has gone the distance in his last five outings.
Bivol stands 6-feet tall with a 72-inch reach. He’s got smooth boxing skills and always seems to eventually wear his foes down with his heavy hands. He’s faced a few good opponents so far with wins over Lenin Castillo Joe Smith, Jean Pascal, Isaac Chilemba, Sullivan Barrera, Cedric Agnew, Robert Berridge and Felix Valera. He won the interim WBA Championship in May, 2016 when he beat Valera by a unanimous decision.
Bivol was elevated to full champion when Badou Jack gave up the WBA title after beating former champ Nathan Cleverly. However, fans would love to see him step up the level of opposition and try to unite the titles with any of the other light heavyweight belt holders. However, he’s already beaten current WBO champ Joe Smith Jr so that leaves the WBC and IBF champ Artur Beterbiev on the table.
Salamov is 27 years old and climbs into the ring with an impressive mark of 26-1 with 19 Kos. He made his pro debut in 2012 after an amateur career and has boxed 149 rounds since then. Salamov, who now fights out of Las Vegas, has won several minor and regional belts as a pro including the IBF East/West Europe, WBO International, IBO, WBO European, WBO Youth, and IBO Youth Light Heavyweight Titles.
His biggest wins have been against Enes Zecirevic, Doudou Ngumbu, Norbert Nemesapati, Emil Markic, Brian Howard, Denis Liebau, Norbert Dabrowski and Emmanuel Danso. His lone defeat came at the hands of Damien Hooper by 10-round unanimous decision in 2017. Salamov stands just over 6-feet-3-inches tall with a 76-inch wingspan which gives him a 3.5-inch height and 4-inch reach advantage over Bivol. There’s no doubt Salamov also possesses pretty good power as his current knockout ratio stands at 70.4 per cent.
Prediction…
Salamov is ranked third in the world by the WBO but he’s not very well known outside of his homeland. He has a solid chin and definitely has a puncher’s chance since you never know which version of Bivol will show up. At his best, he looks like a devastating puncher who can take anybody out. However, he often looks lethargic, is forced to go the distance and does just enough to win. Bivol fights to the level of his opponent too often but since this is a domestic fight in Russia against an opponent with power I’m expecting Bivol to be pushed and respond accordingly. I’m expecting Bivol to win, but just how convincingly is up in the air though.
