NEW YORK, March 9, 2019 – In a thrilling night of boxing, WBA Light Heavyweight Titlist Dmitry Bivol defended his belt in a technical fight against Joe Smith Jr.
Dmitry Bivol
“First of all, I want to thank everyone who support me and who watched this fight. Of course, this was not an easy fight. I trained hard but Joe Smith fought hard and he has strong hands.”
On 10th round punch: “I felt his right hand on the top of my head, on the side. I lost my balance but I didn’t have enough time to react. It was a good punch.”
“Maybe I don’t have enough experience. This is big fight. Top 10 in my division and I don’t know. But at the end of fight I felt that I could knock him out. But that’s not my goal. It was a drama fight, it was a good defense. Intelligent boxing. This is a smart sport and you have to think a lot.”
On his next fight: “I just end this fight and I want to relax. I want to fight for another belt. I am ready for a unification belt or to fight at 168 division. I want to be remembered in this sport. I was to be known for intelligent boxing.”
On the 168-pound division: “Yes, of course, I ate breakfast before I weighed in for this fight. You can say, I am not big. Joe is bigger than me. Other guys are bigger than me.”
