Dmitry Bivol

“It is hard to comment on something related to people defending their home country.”

“I can make super middleweight and would love the opportunity to fight for a world title in that division.”

“The lion is not biggest animal in jungle, but he's king. Zurdo bigger than me; doesn't matter.”

“I want to be remembered in this sport.”

“Of course, this was not an easy fight. I trained hard but Joe Smith fought hard and he has strong hands.”

“When you see the great names like Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, you want to be next to them one day because it's history.”

“I look at my fights a bit differently. I don't assume that one is more important than the other.”

“It's always important to be talkative about things you are an expert in. For example, I'm not a doctor, I don't understand viruses, so I don't speak about COVID.”

“If you are motivated only by money, you'll never achieve anything. It's stupid.”

“First of all, Pernell Whitaker's defense is better than mine. I saw many of his fights.”

“The Etihad Arena is very nice.”

“I am much more motivated by a challenge in fighting the best than material terms.”

“Other guys are bigger than me.”

“I came back from one camp in the U.S., and my kids had learned to crawl, then walk, then speak. And what did I do or learn in those months? I just won a fight.”

“Of course, I want to fight against the other champions but sometimes you cannot do it because they are busy, but we have had good fights and I am happy with that.”

“It's every boxer's dream to be the champion, the unified champion.”

“If I take a fight I believe I can win.”

“In reality, when you are inside the ring, mentally there is no difference whether you are at home or in the U.S. or somewhere else. You have your opponent in front of you and that's all I think about.”

“I have a lot of friends in Russia. My family is in Russia.”

“I don't think about names. I want the belts.”