Dmitry Bivol vs. Trent Broadhurst – Official weights

By Boxing News - 11/03/2017 - Comments

Image: Dmitry Bivol vs. Trent Broadhurst - Official weights

By Jeff Aranow: Dmitry Bivol (11-0, 9 KOs) weighed in at 174.4 pounds on Friday for his title defense this Saturday night against #10 WBA Trent Broadhurst (20-1, 12 KOs) for their Matchroom Sport card at the Salle Medecin Monte Carlo, Monaco.

This is the first defense for Bivol of his WBA World light heavyweight title he recently was given by the World Boxing Association. Bivol was elevated as the WBA’s 175 lb. champion last month on October 11 after the previous champion Badou Jack vacated his WBA title.

Broadhust, 29, weighed in at the light heavyweight limit at 175 pounds. Both fighters looked in top shape for this card, which will be televised on HBO Boxing After Dark. The start time for the Bivol vs. Broadhurst card on HBO is at 5:45 p.m. ET/2:45 p.m. PT. Later in the evening, HBO will be televising a replay of the Bivol vs. Broadhusrst fight at 9:45 p.m. ET. That’s a more reasonable hour for the fight to be viewed.

The live showing of the Bivol-Broadhust card might not bring in great ratings for HBO due to the time, and the fact that Bivol isn’t well-known with the casual boxing fans in the U.S.

This is Bivol’s chance to show that he can become the next star in the U.S on HBO. The 26-year-old Russian Bivol has got the power and the talent to become a star, but he needs to impress on Saturday night against Broadhurst for him to win over new boxing fans in the U.S. If Bivol wins on Saturday, he’ll have a tough title defense due in his next fight against Sullivan Barrera. That’s a fight where we’ll really see what Bivol is made of.

Bivol is one of the many potential candidates posed to take over the 175-lb. division now that Andre “SOG” Ward has retired.

The other top fighters that will have a chance to prove themselves as the best fighter in the light heavyweight division.

The candidates for the No.1 fighter at 175 are as follows

• Adonis Stevenson – At 40, and mostly fighting soft opposition in voluntary defenses, Stevenson is unlikely to take the top spot at 175. He hasn’t shown the ambition to become the top fighter in the light heavyweight division

• Artur Beterbiev – The 33-year-old Beterbiev’s age and inactivity could hurt his chances of becoming the top guy.

• Oleksandr Gvozdyk – The Ukrainian 2012 Olympian has looked vulnerable in too many of his fights for him to be a guy that can take over the division

• Sullivan Barrera – The former Cuban star has a chance to be the top guy in the division, but his age is working against him. Barrera is 35, and he lacks the crushing power and the hand speed needed for him to beat the better fighters in the division

• Marcus Browne – a good fighter but deeply flawed. It’s unlikely Browne will become the top guy at 175

• Badou Jack – Age and match-making will work against Jack rising to the top to rule the light heavyweight division. Jack isn’t a true light heavyweight. He’s going to have problems when he faces the stronger punchers in the division like Stevenson and Beterbiev.

• Eleider Alvarez – The 33-year-old Alvarez hasn’t shown the talent that would suggest that he can rule the light heavyweight division. His age will also work against him becoming the top fighter. Alvarez hasn’t looked good against the largely mediocre opposition he’s faced during his career

• Sergey Kovalev – Age and stamina problems are already showing their nasty effects on Kovalev. The 34-year-old Russian doesn’t have much more time left as a top fighter in boxing.

• Anthony Yarde – A very raw fighter with good power but too many flaws for him to be considered as a possible top guy

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