“In the landscape of extinction, precision is next to godliness” - Samuel Beckett
Saturdat night we saw a fighter for whom precision has led to exactly this, a pseudo godliness in a boxing ring, the sporting land of extinction. Dmitry Bivol acted his every movement with the exactness and tranquility of a surgeon. Never once did he let the pressure break his focus, always laser focussed on the goal of upsetting the best fighter on the planet.
From the opening bell Bivol’s back foot positioning was perfect, tiny steps let him maintain the slightest angle throughout and never go off balance, despite a barrage of ferocious attacks. This delivered Bivol a leverage that made him the stronger fighter, he used the Archimedean principle that it is leverage and not power that achieves results. This meant that Bivol was not bullied in the way Alvarez’s previous victims have been.
Coupling this with his wide stance allowed him to maintain the distance better than anyone else has against Canelo, because it forced Canelo to step around his lead foot, buying him the fraction of a second he needed to anticipate and either absorb or counter the shot.
Bivol was able to mix this with a serene harmony of patience and output. When Canelo is resting, throw, when Canelo is looking for a shot, throw. When he is throwing, relax. He didn’t get drawn into exchanges he would lose. Dimitry Bivol only engaged in passages he’d already dictated he would win.
This is best demonstrated with an exchange in the 5th round where Bivol uses the angle to trap Canelo on the ropes and launch a tremendous flurry. Canelo responds with the old stand and call him in to try again. Bivol though just stared back with cold indifference, never once engaging in Canelo’s game. This proved an enormous psychological and physical victory that paid dividends for him as the fight wore on.
I think Saturdat night we saw one of the great examples in the modern era of a truly expressive performance. No it didn’t have the drama of the personality of Tyson Fury fight, or the disrespect of a Mayweather, but it expressed perfectly who Dimitry Bivol is. He is not a showman; he is a clinician, a scientist, a scholar, a devotee of serenity and calm. He is still the WBA Light Heavyweight Champion of the world, and his is only one of two men to defeat a modern day legend in Saul Canelo Alvarez.
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