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Bivol (15-0 11 KOs) puts his crown on the line for the fifth time against Long Island’s Smith Jr (24-2 20KOs), who fights in his first World title bout. The champion has long stated his desire to unify the 175lbs division, but the unbeaten Russian has cast his eyes on the Super-Middleweight division and is excited by the prospect of potentially becoming a two-weight World champion.
“I’m not a big guy for Light-Heavyweight, and I can make Super-Middleweight, and I said many times that I want the big fights,” said Bivol. By that I mean that I want to fight for belts. If someone has a belt in Super-Middleweight or Light-Heavyweight division, I would be glad to fight them.
“I know Callum Smith has a belt, and I would like to fight him if he wants to, and if our promoters can make this fight. I am open for every fight for the belt now. There are many names who have belts. To the top ten from Light-Heavyweight and Super-Middleweight: I’m ready to fight.
“Boxing is a different sport to something like running. In running, you just have good speed. In boxing, you could have good speed, but this doesn’t mean you can win. I’m not the hardest puncher, I’m not the quickest fighter, but I have something that helps me to be a winner. I have enough speed, I think many speed from Light-Heavyweight have enough speed, the same power as me, maybe more power. I love this sport, because you don’t need to be the quickest or the strongest, I don’t know. I’m just one of the best. I have the best team, I have the best coach, maybe it’s because I believe in my skills.”
Smith Jr’s clash with Bivol is part of a huge night of action at Turning Stone Resort Casino with a second mouthwatering World title fight on the bill in the shape of Maurice Hooker (25-0-3 17 KOs) defending his WBO World Super-Lightweight title against Brooklyn’s Mikkel LesPierre (21-0-1 10KOs).
Callum Johnson (17-1-0 12KOs) and Sean Monaghan (29-2-0 17KOs) will both have a keen eye on the Bivol-Smith Jr. clash as they battle in a crunch fight in the 175lbs division, Uzbek amateur star Israil Madrimov (1-0 1KO) defends his WBA Inter-Continental Super Welterweight title against Frank Rojas (24-2-0 23 KOs), World-ranked heavyweight contender Sergey Kuzmin, (14-0 11 KOs), of St. Petersburg, Russia will battle Philadelphia based veteran Joey Dawejko, (19-6-4 11 KOs) and Otha Jones III makes his pro debut on the card.
