DMITRY BIVOL would not have made it to the boxing ring without Jackie Chan, the martial arts legend.
Bivol, the WBA light-heavyweight champion, was just like many others who grew up seeing the Hollywood legend call names and kick the backsides in his numerous films.
Dmitry Bivol started his journey in martial arts at a young age.
Bivol was inspired by Chan's famous fight scenes to learn karate. However, he eventually found himself in the boxing ring due to a lack of competition.
SunSport was informed by him that he had always wanted to learn how fight and protect himself.
"I grew up watching Jackie Chan movies, and I wanted to be able to fight like him."
"My father took me to a training center to learn karate. However, there weren't many competitions. My father then took me to a gym for boxing, where I fell in love.
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Bivol, like many amateur boxers had dreams of winning Olympic gold. However, he gave up on that dream quickly when he became a professional much sooner than expected.
According to the 31-year old, "Initially my dream was to go to Rio and win a medal. But my career has taken me in a completely different direction."
"I was a professional boxer before I went to the Olympics. I always wanted to be able to reach the top in the pro ranks.
"It is important to me that I know I did everything possible in the sport and gave my all to reach the top ranks."
Bivol will be back in the ring on Saturday to face Canelo Alvarez, boxing's pound for pound king.
Alvarez was at his best in his supermiddleweight unification fight with Caleb Plant last Nov. But Bivol is confident that he will pull off a major upset.
He stated, "First of all Canelo has been in close fights before and has been defeated."
"Every boxer has some qualities and makes mistakes.
"My goal is capitalize on the mistakes made in the fight. I hope everyone will tune it to see the fight.
"I may not be the fastest or strongest fighter, but I have all the boxing skills that I need to win this fight.
"My package is who I am, and this package of skills will be what I bring into the fight on May 7th.
"It is important to stay focused and focused when fighting someone of high calibre.
"Every move and every punch counts and I must be at the top to avoid missing any punches and attacks and land more punches against my opponent."
Bivol, an underdog heading into his ninth defense of the WBA 175lb belt strap, sees no other outcome to his leaving Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena carrying the belt.
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He stated that he believes in himself unconditionally in this fight, just as he did in each previous fight. I am confident that I can win this fight if I do everything I plan.
"I have dedicated my entire life to this sport and that basically answers the question."
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