Russian boxer Dmitry Bivol returned to the ring after a 13-month break. But a long downtime did not prevent our athlete from out-boxing the dangerous Englishman by one wicket.

“A very inconvenient opponent”

Bivol fought his last fight in November 2022. In April of this year, he underwent surgery on his right hand, in which pain periodically arose. Because of this, Dmitry even felt insecure. But before the new fight, all health problems were left behind.

It took a long time for Dmitry to find an opponent. Many potential opponents from the top ten of the WBA rankings simply refused to get into the ring with the current champion. Only Briton Lyndon Arthur (23-1) accepted the invitation. The IBO champion is a dangerous and inconvenient opponent. He finished 16 fights ahead of schedule. Our athlete understood the level of opposition very well.

“I can’t say that he’s a legend, but nevertheless, I’m psyching myself up that he’s the strongest boxer in the world, so I don’t relax and prepare well. Lyndon is a very inconvenient opponent. Not particularly active, but meets well from the right. That is, he has a good counter right. He is constantly on guard with his left, and when retreating he hits with his right,” Metaratings.ru quotes Bivol as saying.

Dmitry Bivol and Lyndon Arthur / Photo: © Richard Pelham / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Arthur was initially preparing for another fight, which was planned for February, but did not refuse the offer to compete for a second title in December.

“I was a fan of his, I’m still a fan of his, and I’ll be a fan of his after the fight.” He was one of the best fighters regardless of weight class. Why should I refuse the fight? Why don’t I challenge him and see what I’m worth? This is what we do boxing for,” says BoxingScene.com.

Convincing victory

From the first minutes, Bivol occupied the center of the ring and constantly put pressure on Arthur. The Briton was forced to press against the ropes, where he became an easy target for Dmitry. The starting rounds took place with complete dominance of our boxer. Already in the second segment, the Briton’s legs “danced” after a series of heavy blows from Bivol.

The Russian was superior to his opponent in everything. A striking example of Dmitry’s cool technique could be seen when Arthur climbed into the clinch and pressed Bivol to the ropes, but our boxer with a slight movement lifted the Briton and turned 180 degrees. When the judge separated the opponents, Lyndon found himself in a difficult position.

Lyndon Arthur and Dmitry Bivol / Photo: © Richard Pelham / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Bivol’s advantage only increased from round to round. In the 11th three-minute period, the Russian knocked down his opponent with a blow to the liver, forcing him to kneel. But the patient Briton managed to get up. It seemed that in the final segment Dmitry would bring the matter to an early victory, but Arthur rushed to look for a lucky punch. He even landed a few blows, but Bivol responded immediately.

All three judges gave a convincing victory to our boxer with the same score of 120-107. Arthur never managed to win a single round. Thanks to this, Dmitry unified the WBA Super and IBO belts.

After the fight, Dmitry expressed hope that in 2024 he would finally have a unification fight with the winner of the fight between Arthur Beterbiev and Callum Smith. The Saudis’ interest makes this confrontation highly likely.

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