On Saturday, Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev will step inside the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh to create boxing history. It will be a sensational moment in light heavyweight boxing when one of these two undefeated monsters will walk out as the undisputed champion. No one in the four-belt era has been able to unify all four titles in the light heavyweight division and now it is bound to happen.

Bivol is a product of the Soviet style of boxing rooted in traditions with an overt emphasis on discipline, technical prowess, and rigorous competition. The Kyrgyzstan-born boxer had to face a highly competitive amateur circuit where he had to fight multiple fights in a month. With about 283 amateur fights under his belt, Bivol is the epitome of perfection through repetition. Bruce Lee must be so proud of him. So, ahead of the pivotal fight, let’s shed some light on Dmitry Bivol’s impressive amateur career.

Dmitry Bivol’s losses in his amateur career

The 33-year-old has a spectacular amateur record of 268 wins and 15 losses. Every fight tested his resilience, and every loss served as a learning experience for the man from Kyrgyzstan. His first big loss came at the hands of Rey Eduardo Recio of Cuba at the 2008 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships. Due to the loss, Bivol had to make do with the bronze medal. However, out of the 15 losses, the opponent that troubled him the most was Maxim Gazizov.

The 23-0 boxer lost to Gazizov twice (2009, and 2010) during his amateur career. It was a defining moment for Dmitry Bivol’s career as it cost him the Russian National Championship both times. Even though he lost, it helped him grow as a boxer and he later dominated the Nationals like very few before him. A few other losses came from Artjom Fjodorov (2009), Husan Baimatov (2010), Gamzat Gazaliyev (2010), Maxim Koptyakov (2011), Stefan Haertel (2012), Alexandr Moskovskiy (2013), and Iago Kiziria (2013).

The last notable loss of his amateur career was against the former WBC Light Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk in the finals of the Summer Universiade championship in 2013. Here Dmitry Bivol had to settle for a silver against the Ukrainian.

But with a win percentage of 94.7, Bivol’s amateur record is something to marvel at where he achieved numerous accolades to his name.

Dmitry Bivol’s overall amateur record and accomplishments

The biggest accomplishment of the WBA light heavyweight champion’s amateur career was winning the gold at the 2013 World Combat Games in Saint Petersburg in the light-heavyweight division. In the same year, he earned a silver medal at the Summer Universiade in Kazan, again competing as a light-heavyweight.

Earlier in his career, Bivol won the bronze at the 2008 Youth World Championships in Guadalajara, fighting in the middleweight category. His dominance was evident from a young age, winning gold in the middleweight division at both the 2006 Cadet World Championships in Istanbul and the European Cadet Championships in Tirana. He later transitioned to light-heavyweight, taking gold at the 2007 Cadet World Championships in Baku and the 2012 European U22 Boxing Championships in Kaliningrad.

He even competed at the junior (U-17) level, winning two world championships. Dmitry Bivol’s early success as an amateur boxer began even before that, with a gold medal in the light-middleweight division at the 2005 European School Championships in Tver.

Now he is on the verge of making history and will do everything possible to keep his undefeated pro streak. Do you think Dmitry Bivol will be able to overcome Beterbiev’s power? Let us know your thoughts down below.