Next week Dmitry Bivol rematches Artur Beterbiev in the biggest event in boxing of the year so far.
But not long ago he wasn’t as well known as he is these days.
Speaking to the Ring Magazine podcast on what lead him to turn pro some years ago now, Bivol said:
“I will tell you how I became (professional). We came to the U.S. in 2014. I came with my friend Sergey Kovalev; he wanted to go pro, and I was like, ‘Okay, I will go also, but I will try sparring with guys to see how I feel. Maybe, maybe not.’ But when I came to the U.S. at that time in 2014, I met Vadim Kornilov (now his manager), and we were having sparring at Wild Card. I had a lot of different sparring, and after sparring, I knew I wanted to be a pro; I could do this. I should be; I want this. I came home to St. Petersburg; I had these thoughts, ‘We need to find some promoter for me.’ Vadim was working on it in the U.S., and we were working on it in Russia. Then I went to a national competition, won again, and after that time, I turned pro. I spent a lot of time at Wild Card; in fact, that’s where I met you (speaking to Steve Kim the interviewers) years ago. My hair was a different color, by the way (he joked).”
Fast forward to next weekend in the Beterbiev rematch, what a great decision turning pro turned out to be.
He lost to Beterbiev last time but looks to avenge the defeat next week – – Beterbiev will look to hold onto the undisputed light-heavyweight title again of course.
