Dmitry Bivol put in a very “Dmitry Bivol” sort of performance today, retaining his WBA light heavyweight title with a wide unanimous decision win over Umar Salamov in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
Bivol improved to 19-0 (11 KO) on scores of 118-110, 118-109, and 119-109, with Bad Left Hook also scoring the fight 119-109 for Bivol, who never let Salamov (26-2, 19 KO) into the fight or gave him much of a chance at sustained success.
Salamov was trying throughout, but Bivol was simply too sharp, too skilled, and too fundamentally sound for Salamov to take any advantage of pretty significant height and reach advantages. Though Bivol is not a big light heavyweight, his technical ability simply sets him apart from almost all opponents, and Salamov was just unable to do much of anything with him.
Bivol largely stuck to his sharp jab, which he uses as an actual weapon, but occasionally would bust out the right hand and some combinations, landing pretty nicely when he wanted to make a point or get back at Salamov for landing the odd good shoot.
Bivol, 30, goes into 2022 still holding his belt, still having some leverage, and still in need of a legitimate challenger, and there really might not be many at 175 lbs, which is not a knock on Bivol, who seems the sort of fighter who will do exactly as much as you make him, and while it can be frustrating to watch, it’s also hard to blame him.
Source: badlefthook.com
