The speech of every fighter who is in the prelude to a transcendental boxing match for his career includes the pride of representing his country. In the case of the clash between Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol has been no exception, as both are proud of their nations. However, with the conflict with Ukraine still raging, will the Russian be able to show his flag and sing his anthem at some point?
Canelo Alvarez is boxing’s current superstar. Nobody moves more fans and generates more money than he does. This will be his 60th fight as a professional. The last time he lost a fight was in September 2013, when the legendary Floyd Mayweather Jr. handed him his, so far, only defeat.
For his part, Dmitry Bivol boasts something that Canelo lacks: his undefeated status. The Kyrgyzstan native has a perfect record in his 19 professional fights and is the current WBA World Light heavyweight titlist. This title will be at stake in the fight at the T-Mobile Arena, a situation Bivol has come out on top of on 7 previous occasions since becoming World Champion in November 2017.
Russia’s outlook in sports due to the conflict with Ukraine
After the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine at the end of February 2022, the sports world had to react in some way. Thus, the consequences were not long in coming, especially for Russian athletes, who although they were not banned, they do have some restrictions when participating in international events, such as Canelo Alvarez vs Dmitry Bivol.
On February 28, the World Boxing Association, of which Dmitry Bivol is the current World Light Heavyweight Champion, announced a series of eight measures to be taken when sanctioning fights of Russian boxers.
Thus, one of these measures will directly affect Dmitry Bivol when he steps into the ring of the T-Mobile Arena to face Canelo Alvarez: he will not be able to parade to the battlefield with the Russian flag nor will he be able to listen to the national anthem of his country in the presentation ceremony held in the ring prior to the clash, as traditionally happens.
“We all have to be proud of where we’re from. It doesn’t matter if it’s from Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Africa, England. I understand why I am without a flag here. No problem. I’m a sportsman. I am focused on the fight… I don’t know about politics,”, stated Bivol according tothe Guardian.
Dmitry Bivol covers his trunk with the Russian flag during one of his fights. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The penalty of the world boxing organizations against Russia
A joint measure was taken in response to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine by the four major boxing organizations worldwide, the World Boxing Council (WBC), the World Boxing Association (WBA), the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF), and this was precisely not to sanction any fight held on Russian territory.This sanction is still in effect.
