Dmitry Bivol has claimed he is still waiting to be paid for his stunning win over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez due to sanctions imposed upon Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
The undefeated 31-year-old turned in a masterful display to defend his WBA light-heavyweight title and become only the second man after Floyd Mayweather Jr to beat pound-for-pound great Canelo in Las Vegas on 7 May.
Bivol was set to earn a career-best payday of around $5million, heading into the fight guaranteed £$2m of the fight purse with 30 per cent of the PPV sales reportedly added on top of that.
But in an interview with TASS, the Russian news agency, Bivol explained how his money had ‘still not arrived’ due to the sanctions imposed on his homeland.
‘I think it’s very difficult [to get a fee for this fight],’ Bivol said.
‘We will still think about how to do it. We didn’t think ahead because the situation is changing rapidly.
‘I didn’t even think about it and said to my manager ‘Vadim [Kornilov], come on, this will be your headache.’
Bivol was born in Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan, but has been a long-time resident of St Petersburg and is a Russian citizen.
Following the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Russia has been hit with wide-ranging sanctions with Russian sport greatly impacted.
Three of world boxing’s major governing bodies – the IBF, WBO and WBC – responded to the Russian invasion by vowing to block ‘championship fights involving boxers from Russia and Belarus.’
The WBA, the championship which Bivol holds, stopped short of such measures, however.
As such, Bivol was free to defend his title against Canelo but was not permitted to enter the ring with his flag present, the Russian national anthem was not allowed to be played and his country was not be named during his ringwalk.
MORE : Ricky Hatton: Canelo Alvarez now in similar position to Anthony Joshua after Dmitry Bivol loss but he can put it right
MORE : Canelo Alvarez wants rematch against Dmitry Bivol and says he did not deserve to lose fight
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