NOW IS THE TIME TO SHINE
In the willing Smith Jnr, Bivol has the right opponent to look good against, writes Elliot Worsell
THERE are three Russians currently leading the way at light-heavyweight and all seem to be biding their time before the inevitable happens and they collide. The youngest of the trio, Dmitry Bivol, defends his WBA version of the crown for the fourth time this Saturday (March 9) when he takes on Joe Smith Jnr at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona and is keen to forget all about Artur Beterbiev and Sergey Kovalev – for now.
Beterbiev and Kovalev, the IBF and WBO light-heavyweight champions respectively, have been on the Bivol radar for some time and it was even thought Bivol would face Kovalev this year, only for Kovalev to suffer a shock defeat to Eleider Alvarez in August. That loss has now been avenged, however, which means Kovalev is back in the picture and could, along with Beterbiev, feature in Bivol’s long-term plan.
We shall see. First, the 28-year-old from Kyrgyzstan must retain his belt and look good in the process. Looking good, in fact, is almost as important as winning for Bivol at this stage, following back-toback decision wins against Isaac Chilemba and Jean Pascal and a gradual slowing of the hype train. Beterbiev and Kovalev, his rivals, might not be as blessed technically, but they have a knack for winning inside the distance and tend to generate thrills and spills whenever they enter the ring. Bivol, on the other hand, has proven to be more of an acquired taste, a Russian more calculated than concussive.
Since being elevated from ‘interim’ champion to ‘world’ champion in 2017, he has ventured into the 12th round against not only Chilemba and Pascal, two wily veterans, but also Sullivan Barrera, the Miami-based Cuban he stopped with around 90 seconds to go. He takes his time. He does things methodically, economically. A perfectionist at work, it’s rare to see Bivol, 15-0 (11), lose a round.
The Barrera result is an interesting one in the context of Saturday’s fight because Barerra is the only man to have beaten Joe Smith since 2010. He did so in 2017, after being floored in the first round, and the decision loss served to undo a lot of the good work Smith produced in 2016 against Andrzej Fonfara, stopped inside a round, and Bernard Hopkins, the legend retired in round eight. The Barrera loss hit the brakes on the 29-year-old New Yorker’s ascent, as well as his aspirations of one day winning a world lightheavyweight title. Or so we thought.
Instead, this weekend, having fought just once since losing to Barrera (a one-round dismissal of the “Romantic Redneck’” Melvin Russell last June), Smith, 24-2 (20), does indeed get his shot at gold and knows he will need to produce better form than he showed against Barrera to have any hope of pulling off the upset.
Bivol will come a cropper only if he looks past the immediate challenge and is caught fantasising about Beterbiev and Kovalev. Providing he focuses on what is in front of him, though, he should hold on to his title via decision.
Also on the Verona card, WBO superlightweight champion Maurice Hooker, 25-0-3 (17), fights Mikkel Lespierre, 21-01 (10), his fourth undefeated opponent in a row, in the second defence of his title. “Mighty Mo” rose to prominence last year with a brilliant 12-round victory against Britain’s Terry Flanagan in June, to win his current belt, and an equally impressive seventh-round stoppage of Alex Saucedo in November. Behind a sharp and consistent jab, Hooker defused both and spoilt their perfect records. Lespierre, meanwhile, might be unbeaten but lacks the pedigree of Flanagan and Saucedo. Protected from day one, he has beaten no one of note. Brooklyn-based, by way of Trinidad and Tobago, the 33-year-old will likely find the step up in class too much on Saturday and, despite a brave effort, have his world title dream cut short in the second half of the fight.
Finally, Britain’s Callum Johnson, 17-1 (12), gets another chance to impress a US audience when he fights Sean Monaghan, 29-2 (17), over 10 rounds.
Johnson, the former British lightheavyweight champion, dropped Beterbiev in round two of their fight in Chicago last October but was later stopped in the fourth. In those up-and-down rounds, however, Johnson managed to display enough power and fighting heart to secure a return to US soil and the opportunity to show fans what he can do with an altogether simpler assignment. Expect him to be too skilled for the crude but tough Monaghan.
THE VERDICT Put your money on the Bivol, Hooker and Johnson treble.