Dmitry Bivol has been sent a stern warning by a reigning world champion who it is claimed dropped the Russian when they sparred in the past.
Bivol is currently regarded as the best 175 fighter in the world after gaining revenge and defeating Artur Beterbiev in their rematch back in February, after Beterbiev had won their initial clash in October.
The win for Bivol had seen him become undisputed, before he vacated his WBC belt in order to target a trilogy clash with Beterbiev, with the IBF belt potentially becoming the next he will be forced to relinquish.
The WBC title is now in the possession of David Benavidez, who is set to return to action in November when he makes the first defence of his belt against Anthony Yarde in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Benavidez and Bivol have sparred in the past, with Churchill Boxing Club owner Peter Berg claiming he witnessed it and saw ‘The Mexican Monster’ drop his rival with ‘the hardest jab he has ever seen.’
Benavidez has now spoken out himself about those sparring sessions, revealing in an interview how they made him realise he would be victorious against Bivol.
“We sparred a lot. It was a good sparring session. With the top tier fighters, the thing about them is they’re about to adapt to anything. I would figure some of his stuff out and he would adapt to that, and he would do some stuff to me and I would adapt to that. The best of both of us were seen in those sparring sessions.
There’s times where I got the best of him, that’s how I’d know I’d beat him. We wouldn’t go in there too confident though, we know we’d have to be extremely ready in the training camp and prepare accordingly. I definitely have confidence in myself that I’d definitely beat him.”
For now, Bivol’s focus is on a trilogy with Beterbiev, but Beterbiev has recently hit out at his rival by claiming he is delaying their trilogy bout.
