Podcast: Bivol discusses a Beterbiev fight, Canelo II, more
Plus: Joyce-Zhang and Mayer-Wildheart recaps, news of the week, and memories on the anniversaries of two memorable title bouts
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Welcome to the Fight Freaks Unite recap podcast coming off a light weekend that featured only one significant card. It was headlined by Zhang Zhilei’s upset sixth-round knockout of Joe Joyce to win the WBO interim heavyweight title and also included Mikaela Mayer’s lopsided decision over late replacement Lucy Wildheart to win the vacant WBC women’s interim lightweight title. We recapped and gave our views on both fights. There is also my extended interview with WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol and his manager, Vadim Kornilov, about what he is looking to do in the near future. We also went over a few news items and shared memories on the anniversary of two exciting fights I covered in which titles changed hands — Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz I and Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez.
Here’s what we discussed on this episode (in order):
The mania of my son’s 10th birthday party.
Recapping Zhang’s exciting sixth-round stoppage of Joyce that sent a jolt into the top of the heavyweight division; thoughts on the performance of both men and what might be next; and thoughts on Joyce’s corner dealing with his injured eye and the lack of urgency.
Recapping Mayer’s clear decision over Wildheart, who took the fight on very short notice, and positioning herself as an eventual mandatory for undisputed champion Katie Taylor.
My interview with Bivol and Kornilov on several topics. We discussed Bivol’s perspective on being the 2022 fighter of the year; his big wins over Canelo and Gilberto Ramirez; his uncertain 2023; the prospect of a September rematch with Canelo that Bivol would like to be at super middleweight for Canelo’s undisputed title rather than at light heavyweight; his desire to fight Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed light heavyweight title; their talks for a summer fight that have not worked out (with comments from Kornilov on the business side of things); recent conversations with Golden Boy on a possible fight with Jaime Munguia — one Bivol admits does not interest him; more.
The change of opponent for WBA “regular” super middleweight titlist David Morrell from Sena Agbeko to Yamaguchi Falcao in the co-feature of the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia Showtime PPV card on Saturday.
WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar Martinez defending his belt against Ronal Batista in the Canelo Alvarez-John Ryder co-feature on May 6 with paving the way to possible unification bouts.
Memories on the 12th anniversary of Ortiz’s decision over Berto in a wild slugfest to win the WBC welterweight title and the 13th anniversary of Sergio Martinez’s huge decision win over a badly cut Kelly Pavlik to win the unified and lineal middleweight title.
Please give it a listen! Also: rate, review, subscribe and enjoy!
We will be bringing you the weekend recap each Monday. Let me know what you think of the podcast by leaving your comments.
Bivol photo: Matthew Pover/Matchroom Boxing
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Great job with Bivol. Always excellent news casting. Very fair assessments to the “B” fighters which is a mark of super success for any writer and especially for the potentially less connected fighter and true boxing fans. Keep punching.
Dan, speaking to the job done by Joyce's corner, I agree they were getting the endswell on it most of the fight, but if you watch the break before the final round, the cutman actually drops the endswell about 30-40 seconds in and it must've fallen all the way down because he took one look and just started putting grease on Joe's face.