Light Heavyweight knockout artist and current WBA champion Dmitry Bivol (15-0, 11 KOs) will be making his DAZN debut on March 9 when he takes on Joe Smith Jr. (26-2, 20 KOs).
The match will be taking place at the Turning Resort and Casino in Verona New York. The contest was made official today during a press conference in New York.
Smith Jr has been back and forth in terms of who he would be facing. He was always next in line for a title shot but there was plenty of discussion in terms of which champion he would be taking on.
Everything is now settled as Smith Jr. and Bivol will be matched up. Bivol has destroyed his competition and will look to keep that trend alive as he looks to defend his title for the fifth time.
For Bivol this will be his first fight under the DAZN banner. During the press conference he seemed very excited to be joining the DAZN team anchored by Eddie Hearn.
“I want to say thank you to all of you guys who work with me and help me. I am glad that my team decided the way of my career and the way that we work with DAZN. Thanks to Joe Smith and his team for taking this fight.”
Bivol also made sure to let it be known that he has no plans of losing his title. “I think we will make great fight and I will keep my belt.”
The fight is sure to be explosive as both men have a tendency of going for the knockout. Smith Jr was thrilled with the opportunity to fight on DAZN and get his shot at a world title.
“This is a huge opportunity for me. I am going to take full advantage. I want to thank DAZN and Bivol for giving me this shot. I want to thank everyone who made this fight happen. I have had a lot of ups and downs in my career. Come March 9, I will be 100 percent and hopefully will be taking that title home with me.”
Smith Jr gained notoriety when he knocked out long time contender Andrzej Fonfara. He then followed that up by becoming the first man to knock out future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins.
Both have a great opportunity in front of them. Come March 9 we get to find out who take full advantage.
